Neighbor stories

5 Golden Neighbors of 2018: You Pick the Winner!

In an effort to spread good cheer and inspire kindness, we are sharing uplifting stories this holiday season that highlight Five Golden Neighbors across the country who, because of Nextdoor, are making positive change in their local community. Help us give this year’s Golden Neighbor some holiday help with a $1,000 gift card by voting below! Hurry – voting ends Friday, 12.21.2018 @ 3:30 pm PT. 


10-year-old Gavin was the target of bullying from some of his classmates, one of which told him to kill himself. The experience led him down a long recovery of learning to trust his peers. But through Tae Kwon Do, Gavin found a way to help him cope and find confidence.

Now Gavin is using his own experience to help other kids who have been victims of bullying. By raising money through his lemonade stand, he’s helping fund summer scholarships for fellow local kids to learn confidence, find new friends, and see attainable goals through Tae Kwon Do at Korean Tiger Martial Arts.


A Florida woman has been using Nextdoor to collect bikes for foster children. There are 30,000 foster kids in Florida, and after fostering a nine-year-old girl for the past year, Kathy Downs realized the power in giving bikes to children in the Foster care system.

Bicycles give our youngest neighbors pride in ownership, normalcy, mobility – and her efforts signify that the world cares for them, reminding kids they are not alone. Kathy matches each bike to a child by posting into Nextdoor. The power of community is real! To date, neighbors have helped Kathy collect 1,100 bikes!


Marty has lived in Paradise for nearly 20 years. For 18, he’s been working for USPS as a mail carrier. Last month as the fires devastated Paradise, he and his wife Nora lost everything. Despite the tragedy Marty and his wife endured, he went back to work just days after the fire took their home. And with temporary housing at a Redding-area motel, Marty’s commute to the Chico Post Office became too far, forcing him to sleep in his rental car each night between shifts in the USPS parking lot.

Sheri, a neighbor who lives along Marty’s route, learned of his story and was eager to help. She posted to Nextdoor to rally her neighbors in support of their beloved mail carrier resulting in donated clothing, food, gift cards, gas cards, and more.


David Duarte has been giving back to his Phoenix community for over 20 years. His wife Sherri was on Nextdoor when she saw a post from a neighbor about a veteran who was looking for work. The post included a photo of the man with a sign which read “Combat-vet, looking 4 work, have skills call Chad.”

Sherri immediately thought of the open position that she and David were looking to fill at their new restaurant, so the couple called Chad that evening and asked him if he would be interested. Months later, thanks to Sheri and David, Chad has become an asset to the restaurant, proving himself as a hard-worker, and was able to secure permanent living accommodations while also going back to school.


In the Seal Beach community located in Southern California, Donut City has been around for about 30 years, sweetening up neighbors and tourists alike with its delicious donuts. When owner John Chhan’s wife became noticeably absent at the shop, longtime customers and neighbors became concerned. Stella had recently suffered from a debilitating brain aneurysm and was at home slowly, but surely, recovering.

Dawn has been a customer for years, and when she heard the news of Stella, she quickly decided the best way to get John back home to care for his wife was to rally neighbors to buy out his donut shop each morning. The response was overwhelming, and it worked.

 

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