Letter: With gratitude for the community’s kind and caring spirit
Dear Editor,
This year, nearly 100 community members participated in NIOT Northport’s Gift Thy Neighbor program, a community gift exchange created to spread kindness while supporting local business. Each registrant was tasked with gifting an assigned neighbor a locally purchased gift for approximately $10 or less. In return, they too would receive a gift from a neighbor.
The response was overwhelming, and the outcome a much needed reflection of the kind and caring spirit holding steady in our Northport and East Northport communities.
We would like to thank all those who participated in the program, who shopped at local businesses, wrote uplifting messages on our NIOT Northport gift tags, personally delivered their gifts to the doorsteps and mailboxes of their neighbors, and shared the gifts they received on our social media pages. It reinforced that we can do great things together, and that this spirit of kindness and generosity will prevail if we keep making space for it.
Gift Thy Neighbor, now in its second year, brought over $1,000 in local purchases to Main Street and the surrounding area, and showcased the unique offerings of a multitude of mom-and-pop stores that deserve all the attention and praise they received, now and throughout the year.
Thank you to Dave at Minuteman Press in East Northport for getting our gift tag job done in no time at all, and to Southdown Coffee for being our gift tag pick-up point and always agreeing to take part in community initiatives.
Our deep gratitude goes to the Northport Native Garden Initiative as well, for not only participating in the program, but pledging one native plant, to be installed in our community, for every gift purchased through the Gift Thy Neighbor gift exchange. Their pledge will put approximately 100 native plants in the ground, in public spaces for all of us to enjoy. Thank you, NNGI!
We created Gift Thy Neighbor one year ago to spread kindness during a difficult time. The community has returned that kindness to us, lighting the way to more personal relationships and positivity between residents, business owners – and neighbors.
Sincerely,
NIOT Northport
A beautifully presented gift, paired with wintergreen, a plant native to the Northeast, shared during this year's Gift Thy Neighbor program.
Participants in the Gift Thy Neighbor gift exchange shared items purchased from local businesses with their neighbors.
Participants in the Gift Thy Neighbor gift exchange shared items purchased from local businesses with their neighbors.
