The city of Bellevue is launching a hybrid outreach campaign that combines community building with support for local service projects.

Neighbor Link, which runs from June through September, will assist residents with everything from food drives and adopt-a-cause campaigns to know-your-neighbor events.

The city will provide resources, offering help with things like planning, banner and flyer printing, transporting of donations, and party kits for neighborhood celebrations.

One goal of the Neighbor Link campaign is to provide recession relief for struggling families.

Requests by Bellevue residents for emergency financial assistance increased 49 percent this winter as compared with the previous year, according to Hopelink.

“It’s sort of back to basics,” said Neighbor Link coordinator Julie Ellenhorn. “We’re encouraging people to stay local and get involved.”

The city is challenging residents to learn about their neighbors’ needs in order to organize relief efforts, which can include anything from cleaning the yards of elderly and disabled people to sponsoring a child for summer camp.

“We’re looking for people to find creative ways of doing things,” Ellenhorn said. “We’ll give them whatever support we can from here to help them pull it off. They just need to give us a call.”

Bellevue’s City Council approved a budget of $25,000 for the Neighbor Link program.

One of the first projects that Neighbor Link will support is the annual Newport Hills Fourth of July festival, which was in danger of dying after its primary sponsor, Red Apple Market, closed down.

The city plans to help keep the program alive this year by providing entertainment and party supplies.

Another project this summer will assist Syneva Wang as she rallies her neighbors from Forest Ridge Estates for a food drive that helps both people and pets. Teens can get involved in the program to earn community-service hours.

Community groups that participate in Neighbor Link are invited to attend a July 23 summer gala with food and music on the lawn at City Hall.

“We want to make it easy for people to do something good,” Ellenhorn said. “As a bonus, we’ll give them a party.”

The city also help participating neighborhoods throw their own localized celebrations.

Wang is planning a block party that will take place some time within the next two months.

“It’ll give us an opportunity where we don’t have to just nod at each other any more when we walk down the street,” she said.