Time To Nominate Good Neighbors Who Make Our Community Strong
( Kat Bruner James, CFF, 2/7/2011)
Do you know someone who embraces diversity in their everyday life? Do you have a neighbor who takes the time to get to know other members of our community who are different from them? If so, you should nominate them for this year’s CFF Good Neighbors = Strong Community Awards.
In 2004, CFF members decided to begin a new program to recognize people in Ferndale who support CFF’s goals and objectives in their everyday lives. Awards winners are recognized by their actions—no matter how big or small—that promote fairness, equality and the mission of CFF (see below). Thus began the CFF Good Neighbors = Strong Community Awards (or just “Good Neighbors Awards,” for short).
Award winners have included businesses that create an inclusive environment, activists who have spoken out against injustice, volunteers who have worked with youth or senior citizens, gardeners who have create a place for the community to grow fresh foods, families who have welcomed other into their home, and many more. Visit our website (www.fairferndale.org) and click on “Good Neighbor Awards” in the top banner for information about past winners.
Our award event started with a small group of award winners, nominators, and local officials in the private room upstairs at Como’s. By the second year, we expanded our numbers and moved to the Elk’s Club. Last year, we relocated again to GoComedy, and we had a packed house. As the Good Neighbor Awards continues through the years, we hope to grow the good cheer and recognition but keep a special, intimate feeling.
Last year’s nomination process yielded the most nominations CFF had ever received. And this year, as the good deeds in our community continue and the attention to this award grows, we are expecting even more. If you know someone who should be recognized as a Good Neighbor, please consider nominating them this year. You can fill out a nomination form on our website. Nominations must be made by March 15, and can be done by clicking here.
More CFF events coming up:
Watch for the second edition of CFF’s newest project, Hello Ferndale!, coming up. In the same spirit of our Candidate Forums, Hello Ferndale! is intended to provide residents with more information about municipal services, community organizations, and the like. The first installment of this program, which is headed up by Francine Hachem and hosted by Mary Schusterbauer, featured the Downtown Development Association (DDA) and has aired multiple times on WFRN. Links to an online version can be found at our website (Quicktime viewer needed). Our second installment will feature the Recreation Department.
Please watch our website or visit us on Facebook (search for “FairFerndale”) for more information about upcoming events, including an issue forum on the Headlee Override ballot issue which we will set for sometime in late April. Donations to CFF can be made at any time, please send to Citizens for a Fair Ferndale, 263 Vester, Ferndale MI 48220. (CFF is a 501(1)(c)(3) nonprofit)
The mission of Citizen’s for a Fair Ferndale is to foster a community that is dedicated to the fair and equal treatment of all residents and visitors regardless of sexual orientation, race, color, religion, gender, age, height, weight, familial status, national origin, physical or mental disability. Our next meeting is March 10 at 6:30pm. Please call 248-515-7803 for more information.
To read about the 2010 awards, check out the Ferndale 115 Article at: http://www.ferndale115.com/20100422cff.html.