Tuesday, February 12, 2013 - By Anonymous - No comments

What began as love thy neighborhood quickly turned into love thy neighbor this weekend.

In the wake of one of the most devastating blizzards the region has faced, a collaborative effort made between Neighbors for Neighbors and SeeClickFix helped spread relief to snowed-in citizens.

While monitoring SeeClickFix activity throughout the course of Nemo I saw a range of storm related issues posted by concerned citizens. These issues seemed typical of such a storm, with posts regarding roads needing plowing, sidewalk access, and snow removal in general.

What wasn’t typical about this was the overwhelming response of shovel-ready neighbors, already waiting to aid those unable to leave their house or clear a way for their car. “It’s great to shovel together”, said Neighbors for Neighbors founder Joseph Porcelli, referring to the 27 residents that were personally helped in Massachusetts alone during Nemo.

One by one, as new posts streamed in from concerned citizens, Joseph Porcelli and his crew were proactively scanning SeeClickFix and making calls to ensure that help was on its way and that their neighbors were in good hands. Joseph has since received teary thank you's from people all over MA for the kindness shown in Neighbor for Neighbor's personal response and aid.

What I took way from Nemo was that snow plows can’t be everywhere at once, but if you have enough caring neighbors, help can.  

Listen and read more about this @ NPR Boston. 

-Mike

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