Your Community Engagement Newsletter for December 2024

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Community Engagement Newsletter

DECEMBER 2024

Best wishes from the Community Engagement Team

As we reflect on 2024, we celebrate a year filled with connection, creativity, and community. You played an essential role in creating the wonderful art piece now on display at the new City Hall. You volunteered to give back to the community in diverse ways. You used our programs and services to create opportunities of connection with your neighbors. Together, we honored the history, achievements, and heritage of Mesa’s communities. And you helped strengthen our neighborhoods by staying informed through our social media channels, participating in the weekly trivia on Nextdoor, and engaging with our monthly newsletter. Thank you for your involvement! Here’s to a well-informed, safe, and engaged 2025!

Best wishes,
The Community Engagement Team

Resident’s Guide to Mesa Now on Demand

The Resident’s Guide to Mesa is a series of free classes designed to provide helpful information for residents looking to improve their neighborhoods. In addition to in-person classes, we have introduced special topic webinars to enhance accessibility: you can watch them live or watch the recording.

We now introduce a collection of on-demand classes. This curated selection includes mini-classes about services and programs such as Neighborhood Registration and Tool Lending, as well as shortened versions of our most popular webinars that you can view anytime and anywhere.

We will like to hear what you think about them and what topics you would like to see in the future. Feel free to browse the collection!

Resident's Guide to Homeowners Association

Deck The Halls with Questions! A brief conversation about holiday decorations and a long Q&A session to wrap up the year. Friday, December 6, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. No registration required to attend.

2025 Here We Come! Hot Topics for HOAs and Condos and How to Set Goals. An overview to the latest updates on federal and state laws that impact HOAs and Condos and predictions for the 2025 Arizona Legislative Session. Tuesday, January 21, 2025, from 11:00 a.m. to noon. Registration open.

Volunteer at 2025 Mesa-East Valley Martin Luther King Jr Parade and Festival

Volunteer at the 2025 Mesa-East Valley Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade and Festival

2025 Mesa-East Valley Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration is on Monday, January 20, in Downtown Mesa. This annual event brings thousands of individuals together and offers multiple opportunities to volunteer. We are looking for individuals or groups to help with check-in, staging for the parade, parade route assistance and de-staging. This year, we are also looking for support with the festival. More information and shifts at the signup page.

Are you looking for a way to uplift your community? Host a drive for cold weather kits.

The Point-in-Time (PIT) Homelessness Count is an annual street and shelter count to determine the number of people experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County during a given point in time. To enhance the experience for those we are surveying and ensure it feels more respectful and supportive, The City of Mesa provides cold weather kits to each individual or family we speak with. The kits include any of the following: gloves, beanies, socks, scarves, hand warmers, neck gaiters, ponchos, hygiene supplies and more. We are looking for organizations or businesses willing to support these efforts by hosting a donation drive for any (or all) of the items mentioned. Committing to this drive will make an immediate and lasting impact in your community. Contact katie.pollak@mesaaz.gov for more information. This is a great opportunity for your group or organization to make an impact!

Holiday Office Hours

The Community Services Offices, including Community Engagement, Homeless Solutions and Housing, will be closed on Tuesday, December 24, Wednesday, December 25, and Wednesday, January 1, 2025.

Registration is open for parade entries and festival vendors for the 2025 Mesa-East Valley Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration.

This parade is the heart of our Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, showcasing walking groups, floats, music and performances. Unleash your creativity, organize your school, neighbors, church or community group, and participate in this tradition of honoring Dr. King's legacy under the banner “Building Bridges: Cultivating our Community.” Apply as a vendor or register your parade entry today!

P.S. Don't forget to save the date to enjoy this wonderful celebration.

Visit the Mesa Family Resource Center for Free Family Activities.

Join the Mesa Family Resource Center for free events and activities all through December! Whether you want to bond with your child at Little Picasso, connect with other families at Parent Café, or take advantage of community resources, the Mesa Family Resource Center is a welcoming space for families with children aged birth to five. Visit us at the Main Library Monday to Friday. View our December calendar in English or Spanish.

FAFSA is open! It's time to create your FSA ID.

The 2025-2026 FAFSA opens on or before December 1st, and it’s never too early to start preparing your application. Creating your FSA ID is the first step toward accessing federal student aid. This ID allows you to apply for FAFSA, check your status, and more. Visit the FAFSA webpage and select “Create an Account" to get started. Remember that both students and parents need their own FSA IDs to complete the FAFSA.

Make Your Holidays Merry, Bright and Sustainable

This holiday season, choose gifts with the planet in mind. Stuff we buy wears out and eventually ends up in the landfill. Instead, think about a gift of time or experiences. Offer to babysit or clean someone’s home or create a memory with a trip to a museum, concert, or other activity. Consumables – such as chocolates, coffee, local foods, fruit baskets, or restaurant gift cards – are also a great option. Here are a few of our favorite Mesa-specific gift ideas:

Lease a garden bed at Mesa Urban Garden
Purchase a membership to one of Mesa’s museums or the Mesa Art Center
Treat your family to dinner at one of our locally owned restaurants

This holiday season make more memories not more clutter. Get additional ideas for a planet-friendly holiday.

Read and Win Exciting Prizes this December!

Take part in our Winter Reading challenge through Mesa Public Library's Beanstack platform! The goal is to read 600 minutes between Dec 1-31 for a chance to win prizes! Along the way, you'll earn a digital badge for each 30 minutes of reading, and fun rewards at 200, 400, and 600 minutes. Download the Beanstack app (available in the Android or iOS app stores), or use the web-based version at: https://mesapl.beanstack.com/reader365 to log your minutes.

Merry Main Street

Mesa's Merry Main Street presented by AT&T is a great way to celebrate the season! The spectacular east valley holiday tradition returns to downtown Mesa for the tenth consecutive year with several new attractions. Merry Main Street starts on Nov. 29 and continues through Jan. 11, offering an exciting variety of holiday activities including tree lighting and event kick-off on Nov. 29, Winter Wonderland Ice Rink, Visits with Santa, Menorah lighting the first night of Hanukkah and much more! Visit the Merry Main Street website for full details about daily activities.

'Tis the season to spread holiday cheer and keep your loved ones safe!

As we gather and celebrate, let's not forget the importance of natural gas safety. Here are some quick reminders to keep your family safe and happy all month long!

Since most natural gas pipelines are underground, look for yellow pipeline markers that identify their presence.
Identify gas appliances in and outside your home and know how to use them safely.
Always call 811 before digging or planting.
Learn how to detect and report a gas leak.
Protect your gas meter from being damaged by vehicles.
Learn how to detect and prevent carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. For more safety tips, visit mesaaz.gov/energy.

Protect your pet from scary fireworks

Fireworks can be scary for pets, so don't take them with you to fireworks displays or shows. Leave your pets inside your home, where they will be safe. Leaving a television or radio on and closing the blinds may help soothe pets stressed by lights and noise. If your pet is used to being kenneled, you can kennel them during fireworks. Make sure your pets are wearing identification and are micro-chipped with current, up-to-date information. If your pet goes missing, visit the Maricopa County Lost and Found Pets webpage.

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