One month away from America's 250th birthday!

Dear Friends,

Today marks just one month until America’s 250th birthday! (And if you're not in the US, we have toolkits just for you here!)

Block Party USA’s American Summer Challenge is officially underway, so you have from now until Labor Day weekend to organize a micro-local neighborhood gathering! Let’s see which state (or city or town) gets to 250 block parties first! Make your gathering count by adding it here!

Remember, you don’t need to travel to our nation’s capital to make the celebration official! The important thing is to organize something right where you live!

Block Party USA's American Summer Challenge has a special emphasis on July 5th with America’s Potluck. This is an opportunity for neighbors to join together to share a fun, communal meal, creating a sense of connection and belonging. Potlucks are a key element of block parties and help make hosting a collaborative effort. Block Party USA is pleased to be an official partner with America's Potluck. You can click here to learn more.

But you can host a block party anytime before Labor Day weekend to join in the American Summer initiative! Block parties build trust, belonging, resilience, and the kind of real-world connection our country, and your neighbors, are hungry for right now.

When kids play freely, neighbors share food, and strangers become more than just familiar faces, something bigger can happen: community becomes real again.

I want to invite you to find joy, play, connection, and rebuild the relationships and local trust that strengthen our future and the future of our communities and nation.

If you’re wondering where to start, how to have a block party, or have general questions, I’d love to invite you to my June Office Hours:

Thursday, June 11th from 12:00-12:30 pm ET 

Tuesday, June 30th from 3:00-3:30 pm ET

Zoom Meeting ID: 820 0975 1912 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82009751912

While you can sign up here for reminders, you can just show up, too! Don't let the summer slip by without making it an American Summer on your street. This is for you.

ICYMI:

Grateful to Streetsblog USA for highlighting the most powerful thing we can do for our neighbors (and our nation!) this summer: organize a simple block party right where we live! Healing America starts one block, one building, one street at a time. AND IT’S FUN!!