Mayor Kevin Hartke has long been a supporter of active and engaged neighborhoods. The Neighborhood Excellence Awards is a way to recognize neighborhoods that participate in G.A.I.N., and the leaders working to improve their community and inspire others to be more active and involved.
To be eligible for nomination, your neighborhood must have participated in the 2021 G.A.I.N. event. Prizes for the winners will be applied towards the 2022.
Chandler’s Neighborhood Excellence Awards Voting
Online voting for the People’s Choice Award will start 8 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30, and continue through 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14. The winners will be announced on at G.A.I.N Kick-off Event on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.
Voting is Closed
In 2021, our neighborhood participated in our first G.A.I.N event. We spread the word to our friends and neighbors and had a turnout of approximately 160 people. At this event we provided food, drinks and a bounce house obstacle course for the kids.
While all this was enjoyed by those attended, the highlight of the evening was the visit by the Chandler Police department. The K9 unit and the S.W.A.T. truck were a huge hit! G.A.I.N. gave us motivation to bring our neighborhood together, and with a turnout of 160 people, we did just that!
Thank you, City of Chandler for fostering such strong community!
This would have been our 17th year holding a GAIN event in Sun Groves if COVID would not have prevented us from celebrating the last two years as a safety precaution. As community members we take pride in organizing the GAIN Day Event every year with the intention of keeping our neighborhood safe and engaged throughout the year.
Everyone is included and the children, adults and community members and city officials look forward to the event every year. We typically have between 50 and 100 neighbors, friends and community members who attend each year with attendance increasing regularly. We all take time out of our busy schedules and take advantage of cooler temperatures to get out and socialize with fellow neighbors and meet the new neighbors every year.
After a long hot Summer, it is nice to be able to be outside and watch all the amazing kids in our neighborhood come out and ride their bikes, scooters, and the like without the worry of cars driving around our streets. With the City of Chandler permitting us to block off the streets, this allows us to bring out our beach chairs, set up tables and grills for the amazing hamburger and hot dog cook-out one of our wonderful neighbors graciously volunteers to do year after year.
We ask all the neighbors to bring a dish to share, and this could be anything from a favorite recipe, desert, home bake goods, veggies or side dishes. It is so yummy! One year we even had a chili contest and everyone had to vote for the best chili. That was a lot of fun!
We also plan a ton of activities for the kids, we have found the skittles under the whip cream with no hands, musical chairs, a bounce house, donut eating with no hands contest, water balloon contest, we play a Halloween movie on a projector for those who want to sit back, munch on popcorn, cotton candy or a sno-cone while they enjoy the show. We have music playing and even the adults part-take in musical chairs games or decide it's time to shake it up a bit!
Can't wait to do it all over again this year!
This was our 4th year participating in the GAIN event. Each year we value this time to see our neighbors, catch up with them and just spend time together.
This last year we added sports such as wiffle ball, basketball and soccer to get more of the kids engaged. We also put up the World Series so our neighbors could enjoy the game together.
Each year we try to make it a little more personal to our neighbors, bringing more out to the event.
Our GAIN Event was special because we had such great community participation in 2021 and the Police Officers and Chandler Fire Department always make it a wonderful event for all of us. After the last few years with COVID and everyone locked up in their homes it truly gave us a great appreciation of what it means to be part of a larger community and the neighborhood of Whispering Heights loves to celebrate and thank those who protect and serve each and every day, thank you!
At our annual GAIN event in addition to the resources the city gives to us our HOA provides food, drinks, blowup slides, bounce houses, games and prizes for the kids and we combine it with our annual Halloween event. Both adults and children enjoyed seeing the SAU Robot Truck and we always love it when the K-9 units pay us a visit. We are truly thankful and blessed to be able to come together with friends, neighbors and law enforcement and learn about each other and celebrate our great city of Chandler.
Thank you for your kind consideration.
The People’s Choice Award Winner will receive the following:
- First place pick in the 2022 G.A.I.N. event lottery
- A choice of a bounce house or event tent (canopy) for their 2022 G.A.I.N. event
- Up to $50 towards water, plates, napkins or utensils for their 2022 G.A.I.N. event
- An opportunity to have a member or members of Chandler City Council attend events taking place between 3–7 p.m.
The Mayor’s Choice Award Winner will receive the following:
- Second place pick in the 2022 G.A.I.N. event lottery
- A choice of a bounce house or event tent (canopy) for their 2022 G.A.I.N. event
- Up to $50 towards water, plates, napkins or utensils for their 2022 G.A.I.N. event
- An opportunity to have a member or members of Chandler City Council attend events taking place between 3–7 p.m.
Additional Rules
- To be nominated, you must be active in Neighborhood Watch, and your contact information must be current with the Crime Prevention Unit. You also must have participated in the 2021 G.A.I.N. event.
- Neighborhood Excellence Award winners will not be eligible to win two consecutive years in a row.
- The rental of items must be coordinated through the Neighborhood Programs Office and cannot exceed $500. Other activities may be considered, but they must be suitable for the event and approved by the Neighborhood Programs Office.
To nominate your neighborhood, submit an application and pictures online no later than Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022. All entries must be received by 5 p.m. to be eligible.
Please include the following information with your entry:
- Neighborhood representative, email address, phone number and address
- Neighborhood web page or social media accounts, if applicable
- Major cross streets
The additional information required for the entry will be made available to the public if your neighborhood is nominated:
- Full name of the neighborhood and/or Neighborhood Watch group
- In a few words, please describe your neighborhood’s participation in the 2021 G.A.I.N. event. Let us know what made your event special and why you should be nominated.
- Include a minimum of two photos (.jpg format)
All neighborhood entrants will be evaluated by Crime Prevention Officers, Neighborhood Programs staff and the Neighborhood Advisory Committee to determine the top finalists for each category. All nominees will be notified via email.
Online voting will begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 23, through 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, 2022.