National Night Out is set to return to Nashville once again this year after a two-year pandemic delay, but donations are still needed to help make it reality for families to enjoy.
Last month, the Nashville Town Council in partnership with the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department Board of Police Commissioners and NMPD Chief Heather Burris announced Nashville will once again host the event celebrating the importance of neighborhood engagement and community policing practices.
Nashville has hosted the event in the past, but this will be the first time the event has been held since 2019. The Nashville National Night Out celebration will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 2 from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
The idea to bring back this celebration that highlights the relationship between the residents of Nashville, Brown County and all public safety agencies began during a meeting between Burris and town council President Nancy Crocker to discuss the growth and sustainable funding plan for the NMPD, according to a press release.
Crocker is head of the National Night Out Event Committee. The committee started just a few weeks ago. Crocker said she is “very pleased” with the pledges of financial and in-kind support for the event so far, but more is needed to make it happen.
“Over the past three years I have learned how important the police, fire and EMT departments are to the residents of this community,” she said.
“I believe this National Night Out Celebration will be good way to show our appreciation and encourage ways to provide the financial support needed. I am overwhelmed at the amount of financial and personal commitments we have already received in such a short time.”
National Night Out (NNO) is an annual community-building campaign, sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch that promotes police-community relations and neighborhood unity.
The goal of National Night Out is to strengthen financial support of and participation in local programs that prevent and deter crime, in an effort to make the Nashville and Brown County community a “safer, more caring place to live,” according to the release. Donations will be accepted at the event.
“As the chief of police, I welcome the return of this NNO celebration to showcase our community policing efforts,” Burris said. “I am grateful for the support from the town council and the community. I look forward to seeing everyone at the event.”
The National Night Out campaign involves citizens, law enforcement agencies, civic and religious groups, businesses, neighborhood organizations and local officials. In all, more than 38 million people are expected to participate in NNO in more than 16,000 communities across all 50 states.
With the help of community partners, this will be a totally free event for the kids, families and residents of the community.
Sugar Creek BBQ will donate food for all in attendance and the Methodist Church is donating dessert for the night.
The National Night Out organization has affordable giveaways for the event. Crocker said they would like to have as many businesses as possible at the event to support the town and county officers.
“Our vision is to have you sitting at a table with your name on it and give a gift to each child. I think you will agree that our public safety officers work very hard to protect this town and its businesses,” Crocker said via email last week.
There is a compiled list of giveaways for donors to choose from. They are for an estimate of 150 kids and a total of 250 people.
Food-oriented businesses are able to donate packaged food donations like caramel corn or candy.
For more information on how to help contact Nancy Crocker at [email protected].
