The fifth annual Ames Ave. Block Party took place on Friday, June 1 as part of Omaha 360's Harmony Week. Boys Town and Heartland Workforce Solutions teamed up to plan and host another wonderful year of community fun!

About 800 community members engaged in this year's block party. People could enjoy food, bounce houses, balloon twisting and lots of prizes at this fun-filled family event. Some highlights from this year's block party were a raffle of 10 bikes from the Goodwill Industries, a personal appearance by " The Godfather" from our corporate partners Godfather's Pizza and a children's dance contest.

"The purpose of this event is to promote Omaha 360's Harmony Week and it's aimed at reducing barriers for parents and youth to obtain the resources they need in the North Omaha community," said Melissa Steffes, Boys Town Community Engagement Development Officer. "This is also a great way to promote positive activities that children in the community can get involved in."

Events like this would not be the success that they are if it was not for the generous sponsors: First National Bank of Omaha, Bank of the West, United Healthcare® and Centris Federal Credit Union.  

The event was also well provided for by several generous In-kind sponsors: Godfather's Pizza, Inc®, PepsiCo™, Dr. Pepper®, Big Mama's Kitchen and Catering, Hardy Coffee Co., Jimmy John's Enterprises LLC, Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers® and Frito-Lay™.

This event continues to have an amazing turn out and it has grown to collaborate with more community partners throughout the years, such as North Omaha Adolescent Health (NOAH), Heart Ministries, The Hope Center and Goodwill Industries, who will host next year's Block Party.

Boys Town extends a big thank you to all of the volunteers  who got involved with this year's block party to help bring together the community of North Omaha - your effort and time is what makes events like this so  worthwhile and fun.