History & Importance
Celebrating Good Neighbor Day can help reduce social isolation and loneliness. Keep reading to learn about the beginnings of Good Neighbor Day and how it's more important now than ever.
About Good Neighbor Day
Lakeside, Montana—nestled between Kalispell and Polson on the west shore of Flathead Lake—was home to Becky Mattson. In the 1970s, Becky and her husband Dick established the National Good Neighbor Day Foundation and worked for three decades to lobby Congress to establish the fourth Sunday of every September as a day for neighbors to help each other. It was officially declared a national holiday to fall on September 28th by President Jimmy Carter in 1978.
National Good Neighbor Day is formally sponsored and managed by The Hopeful Neighborhood Project. The Hopeful Neighborhood Project provides tools and resources to help people engage with their neighbors, leading to deeper community connections, positive change, and pursuit of the common good in local neighborhoods.
Getting Started Guides: National Good Neighbor Day (The Hopeful Project)- guides for libraries, local governments, HOAs, community groups & more. Library guide includes printable bookmarks, reading lists, programming suggestions, & more.
Isolation & Loneliness in America
In the 50 years since the formal start of Good Neighbor Day, the number of Americans experiencing loneliness has grown significantly. Loneliness was declared an epidemic by the Surgeon General in 2023. Many studies have shown significant effects of loneliness on both mental and physical health. These are serious issues that we believe have a major impact on the well-being of Montanans, especially those who live in the most rural, isolated areas or those who belong to a vulnerable population. These resources share some local data about this nationwide issue.
Libraries are trusted community institutions that already exist as places of connection welcome to everyone. They foster a sense of belonging akin to those of close‑knit neighborhoods—they are safe places for all, and a place where people go to find inclusion at no financial cost. Their patrons know the library to be a Good Neighbor. We encourage Montana libraries to take pride in their neighborliness and embark as stewards of being good neighbors by participating in this Montana‑born holiday each fall.
