New Jersey’s Heartland Join in National Night Out Events!

Okay, here’s an interesting riddle. What nationwide event is celebrating its 35^th anniversary, involves 16,000 communities, includes 38 million people and will be coming to towns and cities throughout New Jersey’s Heartland this August?

Well, if you guessed National Night Out, you are right!

Beginning August 2^nd, and continuing throughout the month of August, communities in Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem and Western Atlantic Counties will be staging a variety of Nation Night Our events.

Over the last 35 years, National Night Out has become a community-building phenomenon that fosters community-police partnerships with the goal of making neighborhoods safer and more caring places to live. It provides a great opportunity to bring together neighbors and local police in the most positive light and under the best of circumstances.

National Night Out events take on many forms, including festivals, block parties, cook outs, parades, and various other community happenings that feature everything from safety demonstrations and seminars to youth events, visits from emergency personnel, exhibits and much, much more.

Matt Peskin, who is the founder and executive director of National Association of Town Watch (NATW), staged the inaugural National Night Out program in 1984 through an existing network of law enforcement agencies, civic and neighborhood watch groups and volunteers throughout the country. Nationwide, the first National Night Out involved 2.5 million neighbors in 23 states and 400 communities. In the years since, National Night Our has grown to include a variety of celebrations beyond just front porch vigils, which include some 38 million participants across 16,000 communities throughout America.

Here is lineup of some of the National Night Out events that will be be staged this August throughout New Jersey’s Heartland.