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How to Support Our Good Work

Regular membership per resident is just $10/year! That's less than $1 a month, and we haven't raised dues in the last quarter of a century because we believe so deeply in getting as many residents involved in Ridge Civic Association as possible.

Our fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. As explained below, you have two options to become a member or renew your membership: online or in person/by mail.

1) Join and pay your dues online — Click the appropriate Join Ridge Civic button at right,  complete the form, and you're all set! 
 

  • Resident Individua Click the $10 button 

  • Resident Couple  Click the $20 button (spouses & domestic partners each pay $10 but this ensures we don't duplicate mailings)

  • Business Member— Click the $15 button

  • Business Sponsor** — Click the $13.75/month button (includes sponsor fee plus required $15 membership)

  • Student Member — FREE (follow step 2 below but pay nothing)

Join or renew online, by mail, or in person! 

* Business members must either own a business in Ridge (even if you're not a resident) or, if you are a full-time resident of Ridge, own a business within the Longwood Central School District. 

** Business sponsors must also be business members. See the benefits of business sponsorship on our About Us page or contact us to learn more!

 

2) Complete the membership form and pay in person or by mail — Print our membership form or complete our online membership form and then pay your dues as explained above in one of these ways: 

  • Mail your dues by check to P.O. Box 354, Ridge NY 11961

  • Deliver cash or check to Gray's Hardware, 1878 Middle Country Road (owner Scott Wood is president of Ridge Civic)

  • Deliver cash or check at our next membership meeting (7:30 pm on the third Wednesday of the month), upstairs meeting room at the Ridge Firehouse on Francis Mooney Drive.


Contact us if you have questions: ridgecivic@gmail.com!

Ridge Civic Earth Day Erika & Santiago Ponce Family
Ridge Civic Earth Day 2023
Ridge Civic Earth Day Adams family

Why Support Our Good Work

The photos on this page show families who participated in our 2023 Earth Day community litter cleanup challenge and won gift certificates to local restaurants. We do great events like this year round to help keep our town a lovely place to live—but there are larger benefits as well.

We work hard all year to include children and teens in our events and activities as well so that they can learn what it means to be civic- and community-minded. 

Research shows that, now more than ever, children and young adults need guidance in how to establish connections with others. A study published in BMC Public Health in May 2022, for example, shows a correlation between civic engagement and reduced levels of psychological distress during the pandemic. 

As more and more Americans report concern about the future of our nation—and in particular worry about the quality of life for our children and grandchildren, and our friends and neighbors—we at Ridge Civic Association believe that working together for the betterment of our community can and will lead to good things. 

This just feels like common sense to us, but there's also a great deal of research that shows community connectedness makes a difference not only for individual's psychological well being but also creates brighter futures for them.  

Ridge Civic Earth Day Barbara Royce
Ridge Civic Earth Day Paganetti

In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General published Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, a report on the healing effects of social connectedness and community.  Several sections of the report itemize how civic participation holds strong positive impacts on our lives. For example:

  • Longitudinal evidence shows that civic engagement ... in adolescence and early adulthood positively predicts educational attainment and income potential in adulthood

  • Higher levels of social connection are associated with increased levels of civic engagement (defined as “actions to address issues of public concern”) and more representative government

  • Emerging evidence has shown that civic engagement helps to develop “empathy, problem solving, [and] cooperation” among community members

  • One study showed that higher levels of family and community connection during adolescence predicted civic engagement outcomes in young adulthood including a greater likelihood of voting and involvement in social action and conversation groups; further examples of civic engagement include registering to vote and voting, participating in advocacy groups or clubs

  • Local community participation may influence socioeconomic mobility of individuals across
    their lifespan and also reduce large-scale socioeconomic disparities (pp. 41-43).

Helping our neighbors and their families be more involved in the Ridge community is a win-win proposition: they benefit from increased engagement, and the entire community benefits from their increase engagement. 

 

If you too would like to see the greater Ridge area thrive, please support our efforts for just $10/year and come to our next meeting and see how you can become involved. 
 

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