Faces of the Valley: Aspinwall Neighbors' Sarah Shaffer works to make 'great place to live even better'

From snow angels to soup delivery to sustainable rain gardens, Aspinwall Neighbors is just what the moniker says — a way to help connect people.

“We’re guided by the mission of neighbors helping neighbors to build a thriving community,” said Sarah Shaffer, group president.

A senior marketing manager for global firm FTI Consulting, Shaffer signed on as a volunteer for the then-fledgling anti-crime group in 2010 and stepped into a bigger role with communications and planning in 2016.

A year later, she joined the board and then took the reins as president in 2022.

“We’ve gotten clear on our guiding priorities and what’s most important to us as a group” Shaffer said. “The pandemic helped solidify the need for community connections and supporting our small businesses.”

Initially a neighborhood watch group, Aspinwall Neighbors shifted gears to focus on building rapport and inclusivity.

Shaffer said the major tenets of the group are to embrace and uplift all voices, empower residents, create avenues for meaningful connection, serve and care for each other, promote neighborhood businesses and take a collective responsibility for the environment.

“We make an already great place to live even better,” Shaffer said. “From beautification projects like the ‘Love, Aspinwall’ mural at the Elijah Straw Playground, revamping the Alley A Rain Garden and our annual Green Streets clean up, to programs like our monthly soup delivery to seniors, we’re getting residents actively involved and invested in making Aspinwall the best community it can be.”

The group’s major event is the annual Big Night Out, scheduled for Aug. 7 this year.

Shaffer said the festivity “brings the best of Aspinwall together for a free, family-friendly night out on the baseball fields and is an annual favorite in the neighborhood.”

The group maintains a strong relationship with the borough’s police department, Foxwall EMS and Southern Allegheny Valley Emergency Services, with first responders showing off their vehicles at the event. Families get a hands-on glimpse, and its a chance for responders to build relationships with children.

The event also features bouncy houses, games, face painting, photo booths, informational booths, music and food.

For three years, Aspinwall Neighbors has partnered with the borough and Pennsylvania Resources Council to make Big Night Out a zero-waste event, reducing the amount of trash in landfills and incinerators.

Andy Collins, Neighbors’ vice president, said Shaffer has led the group to more sharply define its mission.

“Within that framework, Sarah fosters an environment where new ideas are encouraged so that we are evolving to enrich the community fittingly,” Collins said.

New in recent months is a grant program which provides $1,000 for community-led projects. Money will be awarded to residents to implement ideas that could positively impact a majority.

Still happening is the snow angel program, through which neighbors who need help are matched with volunteers who bundle up to clear walkways and steps. A similar system is used to deliver monthly soup care packages to older folks and post-surgery residents from December through April.

The soup and snow lists are used by borough officials to identify residents who might need to be checked in on during a power outage or heat wave over the summer.

Members have also transformed the rain garden in Alley A to boost sustainability throughout the borough by diverting rainwater. Workers are needed to maintain the greenery through the summer and fall.

“We’re 100% volunteer-led and run so there are always opportunities to get involved,” Shaffer said.

It’s perhaps what’s most important to her in the role of president, raising awareness of the work and recruiting new faces.

It was an integral part of Shaffer’s settling into Aspinwall when her family moved in 2006.

“So many of the friends I’ve made in Aspinwall have been made through volunteering, starting with my first Green Streets Clean Up,” Shaffer said. “This was before Green Streets became a project run by Aspinwall Neighbors, and my son, who is a senior in high school now, was in a front carrier with me then.”

She said the group is looking for neighbors who want to get more involved and those who want to take lead roles in programming. There are board openings and other behind-the-scenes ways to help.

“My term as president ends this year, and I’m excited to see where the next community leaders take Aspinwall Neighbors,” Shaffer said. “There’s so much in Aspinwall that happens organically, but we can reach more people by providing a channel for connecting volunteers or just inspiring people to help out.”