Iwould like to encourage different neighborhoods to start a Facebook neighborhood group. Our neighborhood has a group on Facebook for the residents only here in Nicholasville. It’s the neighborhood of Southbrook and West Place.

The group was started by Dana Marsee and myself, who are life-time residents of Nicholasville. There are 675 members. The group helps to inform people of the news that is happening in other areas of the neighborhood. It also has helped to bring people together.

Last year, Jaime Gooch organized an Easter egg hunt for the children in the neighborhood. Many people donated hundreds of candy-filled eggs. There was a huge turn out and lots of laughing happy children.

Also last year, one of our neighbors was in a terrible automobile accident and the man lost his wife. They have two children. Our neighborhood real estate agent, Katherine Collier, organized an outreach through the group to help them. The whole neighborhood donated money and other items.

One of the neighborhood ladies, Garianne Short, works at Kroger and the store donated several trays, drinks, cups, plates and silverware. The manager said if they needed more to go get what they needed. Amazing people. Many neighbors went and mowed and raked their yard as well.

Now, just a few days ago, one of our sweet ladies, Kymber Arvin, organized a food drive for a couple who has some serious physical problems and were low on food and other items.

So many families in the neighborhood donated food and other items to help. Kymber was amazed at the amount that was donated.

A sweet neighborhood lady, Cyndee Banta, just called me the other day and said she just wanted to bless me by cooking my husband and I some banana muffins.

It was the first time I had met Cyndee.

Then, yesterday, she posted a cream cheese coffee cake on the group and asked if anyone wanted it. How sweet is that?

My grandchildren have lemonade stands every summer as we live on the main road into the neighborhood. One summer the children made over $100. More than one person gave them a $20 bill for one glass of lemonade. I took a picture of an officer in uniform buying lemonade.

Neighbors have posted items they don’t need like baby food or formula or furniture or anything and tell people to just come get it off their porch.

Katherine Collier and her daughter Lauren have also helped to organize school supplies donated by the neighbors for needy children by getting together backpacks and filling them with needed school supplies.

One winter, when we had a bad snow, everyone was posting how they appreciated how people were helping them get out of their driveway.

Our neighbors, Joel and Judy Hughes, are the best. He mows our yard and shovels our snow and they are always bringing us food and sweets. With things looking so bad in the world, it’s like we have a piece of Heaven here in Nicholasville.

Every neighborhood has its problems, but there is so much good it covers over the negative.

I just want to encourage people to start a Facebook neighborhood group to spark the world to care about their neighbors whether they are next door or around the world. It truly does start at home.

Eva Marsee

Nicholasville