May 2020: Supporting the Local Goodness in Your Life this Month

In Edmonton and across the world, people are making a genuine effort to support those around them, and to support themselves in this time of crisis. There are a thousand small actions shared each day between people who are otherwise hunkered down and in social distancing mode. Together, these small actions are adding up, and the result is a ton of local goodness that we are proud to highlight this month through a project we’re calling: 

The Local Goodness Project

Through daily shared acts of community solidarity during the month of May, The Local Good will be rallying our online community to draw attention to (and help out) small, local, and community-minded businesses, non-profits and individuals. We’ll be using our calendar of Local Goodness to share daily tips and inspiration so you can join in. Each week we’ll be focusing on another theme, and sharing how residents like YOU can start promoting local goodness through your own actions and influence. And to add to the goodness, we’ll be entering anyone who posts using our campaign hashtag in a draw to win a gift basket brimming with local goodies at the end of each week!  

Once the word is out, anyone who wants to join will be able to jump in and contribute their time, money, voice, or hands to the community-supporting activities we plan each day under the hashtag #LocalGoodnessYEG, so be sure to watch and share! 

In doing so, you’ll be taking your first steps in creating a collective hub where local goodness can shine—especially as we confront the difficult new realities of our COVID-present. We’re even bringing on good locals to help us bring some new voices to the issues we talk about during each week.  

Keen participants can also volunteer to help with that or The Local Goodness Project itself, just by clicking here and signing up! 

Otherwise, keep your eyes on our blog and social media streams for daily resources and how-to-support-local inspiration, and follow along as we highlight the ways community members like you can give back. 

How we think it will help: 

When we share Edmonton-specific information and ideas for supporting local during a crisis, we begin to surpass the very boundaries that crisis creates. These sources will be helpful in the moment, and in the future as we continue to rediscover the ways we can use our time, money, and voices to support local, while still supporting ourselves. We also believe the hashtag will act as a great hub for those looking for ways to help their neighbours when we come out of all this on the other side.  

“We’re protecting each other. But now we have a chance to make those efforts known in a repository of goodness, behind the hashtag #LocalGoodnessYEG.”

Basically, we’re excited to shine a light on great Edmonton-local projects (built in response to COVID or otherwise) like Backing Locals, Here for Good, Things Are Still Open, and many more. We also want to create a space where we can crowdsource even more great ideas, and create positive peer pressure by encouraging people to share what they’re doing via our hashtag. 

Finally, we’re looking to give a platform to local business owners, artists, and non-profits who want to put a call out to other Edmontonians about the specific help they’re looking for. After all, they know best what they need. 

 

How you can help

Participate

Just follow us on social, watch out for daily #LocalGoodnessYEG inspiration and share what you’re doing that relates to the week’s theme. If you’ve got a large following or if you hold a position of influence, your participation and amplification will make a huge difference.

Partner with us

If you’re an organization that believes in supporting local goodness we would love your help covering the cost of gift baskets. If you can’t do that, you can help us spread the word and encourage your community to participate. 

Volunteer

The Local Good is a totally volunteer-run organization and we’re always looking for more help. For this project we’re looking for writers, editors, researchers, designers, social media wizards, and anyone who’s enthusiastic about the idea and willing to help. 

Cover Our Project

Spokespeople from The Local Good are available to take interviews about The Local Goodness Project. It’s a good news story about the Edmonton community coming together and we want to get the word out and encourage as much participation as possible.

The Local Goodness Calendar

We’re excited to be rolling out some great weekly themes over the whole month, and if you see a theme that fits your “goodness-niche” then make sure to pay extra attention! You’ll be in the great company of people across the city who are embarking on their own journey of local goodness. 

And just to make sure you don’t’ miss out on anything that’s to come, here’s a calendar to keep you updated throughout the month: 

Weekly Themes (and Green Drinks!) 

May 1 – 7​

|| Food and Drinks 

May 8 – 14 

|| Grassroots Non-profits and Community Care 

May 15 – 21 

|| Small and Independent Businesses 

May 22 – 28 

|| Arts and Culture 

May 27 

|| Green Drinks: Local Goodness 

May 29 – 31 

|| Supporting frontline workers and a look back at the campaign 

So turn on your post notifications people, and prepare for 31 days of community self-love as we turn our capacity for goodness into high gear! 

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About The Local Good

The Local Good was founded in 2007 as a hub to help Edmontonians live more local and green lifestyles. Our mission is to make good things happen by connecting people interested in living locally and sustainably with resources and experts. We do this through our monthly Green Drinks Edmonton networking events, our Cash Mob Edmonton flash mobs that support local businesses, our blog, and our social media channels. We also founded the Edmonton Resilience Festival, which is now organized by another great, local organization: the Edmonton Permaculture Guild.