There’s a new Facebook group, Newton Neighbors Helping Newton Neighbors, and an associated Google Form through which those who “live, work, pray, play and/or learn in Newton” can sign up to offer help to — or to request help from — others in Newton. This wonderful community platform was created only seven days ago by Shalini Tendulkar, Shreeda Vyas, Martha Bixby, and Ranjani Krishnan Paradise. Already, the Facebook Group has over 1000 members and over 300 have completed the Google Form. As a result, “groceries are been delivered, financial support is being offered, car loads of cardboard boxes have been delivered to college students and even emergency requests for toilet paper and thermometers are being answered rapidly.” See the Boston Globe’s story here. The concept is being replicated in other communities. Yes, some things we want to grow exponentially! Thanks to Shalini, Shreeda, Martha, Ranjani, and to all involved.
Thank you so much to the people doing this!
For anyone wanting to set up something similar for a community (synagogue/church/mosque, neighborhood association, etc.), I created a copy of the Google Doc they are using that’s non-Newton-specific that people can copy to use. It’s at
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JzWvb_QihpBqjKchNnusLTzyxt85qja2fe_K9pt1VPo/viewform