When I answered the door last Easter morning, Sarah Stashuk, Mike Ward and their baby Sienna greeted me with an Easter gift, a basket full of candy nestled around a small beautifully hand-painted rabbit on a rock.

Mike and Sarah moved into the suite next door last fall and, although we had said hello over the fence a few times, we really hadn't got to know one another but when the Easter gift arrived out of the blue, I knew that was about to change.

Sarah and Mike's effort to reach out to a relatively new neighbour made me think of little things others I have written about have done to make a difference in their neighbourhoods.

Jeff Hunter and his partner began a major renovation on their house and garden soon after they moved in to their new neighbourhood, generously shared their knowledge and ideas with their neighbours and, within a year, the neighbourhood was a much friendlier and more attractive place to live. Their special Halloween treats helped them especially good friends with the kids on the street.

Roxanne Allen makes a point of sitting on her front porch and saying hello to all who pass by. She also walks in her neighbourhood with her head up and a smile on her face. As a result she has got to know most of her neighbours, introduced them to one another and now many of them are working together to change their neighbourhood for the better.

Martin Higgs, the kids call him "Martoon", opens his workshop ... and his stories ... to the kids in the neighbourhood. He has fun doing it, the kids learn a lot, and his neighbourhood has become a friendlier place.

Remember "John Wayne", the man who quietly does little favours for his neighbours without being asked?

My mom always made a point of having cookies and milk for her young neighbours. She also offered a constant, non-judgmental ear. Listening is such a powerful gift. Many of those kids kept visiting even after they had kids of their own.

Recently at an Asset Building workshop at Malaspina, I heard about a woman in her late 70's who regularly opens a lemonade stand in the summer and offers free lemonade to neighbourhood children - Do you think she's got to know a lot of people in her neighbourhood? Do you think her neighbours will be there for her if she ever needs them?

Dwayne Schultz always made a point of being available to help his friends whenever he could. Then, when he returned from a year of traveling with only limited funds in the bank, his friends gathered around to help him renovate the only house he could afford ... a house his realtor described as "dozer bate". That "dozer bate" has now turned into a beautiful home with meticulous finished carpentry inside and an extraordinary garden outside.

Here are a few other sure-fire simple things you can do to impact your community:

• Vow to say one encouraging word each day to one of your neighbours or workmates
• Dwell on what people in your neighbourhood are doing right instead of what they are doing wrong
• Organize an annual neighbourhood barbeque of garage sale

By the way, even though we are separated by almost two generations, since Sarah and Mike delivered that Easter basket, our backyard conversations are definitely longer, we felt comfortable enough to ask Sarah to look after our cat when we were away for four days, and you know we'll have more than a few barbeques together over the summer. It feels good and it probably wouldn't have happened if they hadn't taken that first small step.