Auburn Public Safety invites community members, families and residents to celebrate the city’s 41st annual National Night Out (NNO) on Tuesday, August 6.
The event is designed to promote local anticrime and drug efforts and to generate community unity. NNO is observed in over 16,000 cities across the country on the first Tuesday in August, including in Alabama.
Neighborhoods host block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and various other community events with safety demonstrations, seminars, youth events and visits from emergency personnel, according to the official NNO website for the United States.
“It’s designed to bring the community together and focuses on promoting crime and drug prevention awareness,” said Sidney Hancock, public relations specialist at Auburn Public Safety. “It promotes local anti-crime efforts and strengthens neighborhood spirit and police community partnerships. So, it's all about building relationships and building awareness.:
The event is offering residents in The Plains the chance to meet some of the pillars of safety within the city. This includes the fire department, police department and the school resource officers. There will also be other organizations that is offering resources to the community such as the Auburn Public Library, Humane Society and more.
“It’s a great opportunity for people to come out and learn about resources that are in their community,” said Hancock. “Many of them are free resources. So, with National Night Out, we invite local nonprofits to set up booth space for free. We provide tables and chairs for them, so they can set up their booth and share all of their information about their programs and different opportunities for people living in Auburn and just in the Lee County area.”
There will also be food and entertainment for both children and adults. Kids are invited to meet and interact with the fire department with the “Touch a Truck display,” and take photos with Sparky the Fire Dog and McGruff the Crime Dog. Adults can learn more about the departments through the Auburn Police K9 demonstrations and fire department education meet and greets.
“Reducing crime in the community, it's a team effort. So, just raising awareness about what our residents and visitors can do to protect themselves as well as what to do when something bad happens, that's really equally important,” said Hancock. “Having the opportunity to get to know your first responders and learn more about reducing crime in our community, it's just so important, and so it's a big focus for national night out.”
NNO in Auburn will be taking place from 5:30 through 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 6 at the field behind Duck Samford Stadium (1623 E. Glenn Ave). More information on this event can be found here.
