This year Neighbours Day is in its 11th year in New Zealand, and to mark this milestone, Neighbours Day is celebrating with 10 days - 27 March-5 April - of neighbourliness.
The Neighbour’s Day theme is “Small things make a big difference”.
Sustaining our communities with food, with aroha and with hospitality is what Neighbours Day is all about. Parishes around the country are the driving force behind many shared community gardens and foodbanks that help build strong neighbourhoods by working together to feed those in need.
This year, we will care for our neighbours by making available edible seeds for church-led community gardens and foodbanks. Or you can simply give the seeds to your neighbours so that they can grow them in their own gardens.
Embrace our responsibility to be good neighbours this Neighbours Day, by joining with each other to nurture community gardens and put vegetables into our foodbanks, the length and breadth of Aotearoa.
Moderator's Neighbours Day message 2020
In his Neighbour's Day message, Moderator, Rt Rev Fakaofo Kaio acknowledges that while we are blessed in many ways as a nation, yet life remains a struggle for a lot of Kiwi families. He urges us to take small steps to make life a little bit easier for our neighbours who are doing it hard.
Edible seed giveaway
We have packets of edible seeds to give away to Presbyterian and Uniting parishes. Seeds will be allocated on a first come-first served basis. Priority will be given to those projects that are support the wider community, like community gardens, or gardens that contribute to foodbanks. Fill in the form below to apply for seeds. Multiple packets of seeds are available for larger projects, so tell us about your initiative, and what sort of seeds you’d like and how many packets, and then we’ll be in contact.
Types of seeds available:
- spinach
- silverbeet
- kale
- carrot
- leek
- radish
- spring onion
- onion
- beetroot
- pumpkin
- celery
- cauliflower
- radish and
- cabbage.
See this website for information on planning and planting a vegetable garden.
Apply for seeds now!
Email the following information to us:
- Parish name and contact person
- A short description of how the seeds will be used (300 words or fewer)
- Indicate your preferred seed type/s from the list above (indicate your first, second and third preference)
- Indicate the total number of seed packets you would like (and if you are requesting more than one seed type, please specific the number of packets of each seed type)
Email now and please note that applications close Wed, 25 March 2020.
Download the Church's Neighbours Day seed giveaway poster for use on your parish bulletin board, in your newsletter or social media channels.
Getting involved in Neighbours Day
Planting vegetables isn’t the only way to get involved in Neighbours Day. If there is a park, walkway or other public area in your community that could do with a little bit of love, Neighbours Day provides a great opportunity to organise a clean-up day. Organise a group from church - and invite your neighbours - to come together, grab some gloves and rubbish bags, and connect with each other while making your community look amazing. Follow it up with bit of good old-fashioned Kiwi hospitality and share a cuppa or afternoon tea after a job well-done.
See the Neighbours Day website for other ideas about how to get involved…
Tell us what you are doing
So you’ve decided to get involved, great! Let us know. Email us, and we’ll publicise your event on the Church’s Facebook page. Also send us some photos.