Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard has declared Oct. 12-17 as “Neighbor Week.”

Organizers are planning events intended to “bring neighbors together to improve their lives and make the city a better place to live, work and play,” according to a release from the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center.

“I have long said that citizens are proud of their city, but they live in their neighborhoods,” Ballard said in a prepared statement. "We must all work together to protect our neighborhoods and rebuild our communities so that this and future generations are proud to call Indianapolis home.

“We are all privileged to live in a city where individuals take ownership in their neighborhoods and can come together to show our commitment to ensuring the well-being of this community.”

Planned events included a cleanup and tree planting in the Near-Northside neighborhood surrounding the Oaks Academy earlier today. Volunteers expected to plant 20 trees and daffodil bulbs. Keep Indianapolis Beautiful Inc. and IPL sponsored the event.

Future work will include limestone benches, labeling the trees and adding additional shrubs and flowers to the area surrounding a “pocket park” in the neighborhood.

Planners want to leave a “large play meadow” in the center of the park, according to a release from Anne-Marie Predovich Taylor, executive director of the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center.

Another event during “Neighbor Week” Neighbor is the “Power! Awards Reception” at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the University of Indianapolis’s Schwitzer Student Center, 1400 E. Hanna Ave., to recognize individuals and groups who have made exceptional contributions to neighborhood improvement.

For more information, call Predovich Taylor at (317) 920-0330, ext. 101, or e-mail her at apredovich@inrc.org.