(NewsNation) — From the local grocer who’s open 365 days a year to the friend who’s always at the ready with a meal or a ride, communities are built on the kind acts of neighbors.
It is in recognition of these acts, big and small, that social media networking platform Nextdoor announced the Nextdoor 100, an award program celebrating the meaningful people and local businesses in everyone’s lives.
Debbie Goetz, head of brand marketing, Nextdoor, discussed the inaugural Nextdoor 100 celebration during an appearance on “Morning in America”.
“We sort of realized earlier this year, there’s many celebrations, many award shows for celebrities and great things happening. But there wasn’t one that was celebrating the neighbors right outside our door,” Goetz said. “So what we set out to do was literally put out a call to action of neighbors nominating neighbors, or small businesses for random acts of kindness.”
What happened next was nothing short of inspiring. Nextdoor received 46,000 nominations from across the country, according to Goetz.
In Sacramento, Goetz said, Patty was nominated by Mary for collecting and delivering supplies for families affected by the wildfires.
“And she didn’t just do it right at the moment,” Goetz said. “She’s been doing it for months still.”
In Indianapolis, Goetz recalled, Bill saved Jeff’s life. Jeff was out for a run and suffered cardiac arrest. Bill called 911, did CPR and put him in an ambulance.
The nominations referenced “everything from life-saving to really day-to-day activities,” Goetz said.
In Atlanta, Barbara, a checkout counter person at Kroger, was nominated for the greeting she gave shoppers, a greeting that people purposely get into her line to receive.
During the pandemic, the Nextdoor leadership realized, like many of us, that neighbors were really stepping up to help their communities with acts of kindness large and small.
In recognition of the neighbors selected, Nextdoor hosted a series of block parties in Atlanta, Sacramento and Indianapolis.
And September is neighbor month, so Nextdoor is again recognizing the kind acts of neighbors and accepting nominations on its website.
Watch the full interview with Debbie Goetz in the video player at the top of the page.