The Richmond Hill Block Association (RHBA) has gone digital.
The local civic group has taken its efforts to connect Richmond Hill residents with the 21st century by creating its own, brand new Facebook page.
The group launched the page last week on March 1.
Wendy Bowne, president of the RHBA, spoke excitedly of the group’s new Facebook page, which the board recently decided was the next logical step needed to help keep Richmond Hill residents informed.
“Everyone has a Facebook page nowadays,” Bowne said. “It’s the best way to make it out into the community and get information out there as fast as possible.”
Aside from posting upcoming events the block association is sponsoring and local events—such as an upcoming blood drive March 11 at Holy Child Jesus Church on 112th Street & 86th Avenue—the goal of the block association is to use the page to keep Richmond Hill informed of important issues.
One such issue is the Department of City Planning’s controversial proposal to rezone more than 220 blocks in Woodhaven and Richmond Hill. A petition is currently circulating in Richmond Hill to oppose the proposal due to the lack of inclusion of data from the 2010 Census pertaining to the community.
Community Board 9, which covers both communities, is scheduled to vote on the proposal at their next meeting on March 13.
On that subject, Bowne said that RHBA’s goal is not exactly to garner support against the issue, but rather to inform residents of what is happening and “give them all the information they need at their fingertips.”
Prior to their site launching, Bowne said that RHBA had been spreading information the old fashioned way via fliers and press releases. And while the group does have a web site, rhba.org, the site is still under construction.
“We were really in the dark ages,” Bowne said with a laugh. “This page is something that is more instant. Not everyone is searching for a web site unless you’re looking for information, but when you’re on Facebook, it’s faster if you just ‘like’ a page and can see for yourself what is going on in your community.”
Already the site has garnered fans.
“How can you not like this?” writes Michael Santiago. “Now all that it needs are some video games. What say all?”
Richmond Hill resident Chelsea Danda Silochan summed up her feelings in two words: “Yeaaaaaaah buddy ! ”
RHBA’s Facebook page can be found online at: facebook.com/#!/RichmondHillBlockAssociation.
By Jean-Paul Salamanca
jp.salamanca@theforumnewsgroup.com
