We live in a world of neighborhoods. Rivalry exists among neighborhood Little League groups or school sports teams, but the concept of neighborhood conjures up the idea of shared experience and caring.

In a neighborhood, it’s not unusual that a neighbor would shovel your walkway unbidden, stop for a conversation while walking their dog, keep an eye on your kids as they walk to school, or volunteer for a local blood drive.

In a neighborhood, no one questions the party affiliation of the fireman with an outstretched helping hand, or a nurse checking your blood pressure, or the policeman directing traffic around flood waters. Neighborhood transcends. It can be a place of comity and caring. That shared experience is what makes us a community that cares – one for another.

We can define our neighborhood at any scale we choose – as a street or city block, as boroughs and towns, counties and states, or countries and continents. The size of our neighborhood doesn’t really matter. It is as a community we may gather together in common purpose toward a shared value. Some may ask, “What is that shared value?” I would simply answer, “Ask a neighbor.”

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Kevin Deeny