PHOENIX — Coming together to celebrate a sense of community – that’s the goal behind a brand new event in the Valley.

It’s called Hands Across North Phoenix, and it’s being held Saturday, November 8, starting at 11 a.m. at Paradise Valley Park in Phoenix, near Union Hills Drive and State Route 51.

Blair Ballin is the event organizer and founder of the Facebook group, “Living North Phoenix,” which now has more than 37,000 members.

Ballin says he started the group when he wanted to get recommendations for Indian food in his neighborhood and also wanted to get a group of people together to play basketball – and in recent years, the group has really blossomed and exploded in size!

Ballin says the hope behind Hands Across North Phoenix – which shares a similar name to “Hands Across America” in May 1986 – is to get rid of what divides us and remember instead what unites us.

“I wanted a place for people to come together for a very small amount of time and know we are all together and just be there with no agenda or anything else other than to bring the community together,” explains Ballin.

To learn more about Living North Phoenix or Hands Across North Phoenix, click here.