Cherry Hill’s National Night Out feature 25-30 vendors, most of which were set up outside. They were bombarded with rain for the first hour, after which some groups decided to move indoors.
In spite of the pouring rain, Cherry Hill carried out its National Night Out on Tuesday, August 6 at the Cherry Hill Municipal Building. Around 25 tables and tents were set up outside featuring different nonprofits, local businesses and organizations as well as inflatable bounce slides for kids. Inside the community center, there were food vendors, raffles and the majority of the attendees.
National Night Out is an annual event celebrated nationally by police departments aimed at fostering community engagement with the police department and their community The first National Night Out was in 1970 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania and has been adopted as a national campaign in 1984. Cherry Hill has been participating for around eight years, taking a pause for the pandemic and resuming in 2022.
“Interacting with the community (is my favorite part of the event), said Lt. Andrew Spell, a Cherry Hill police officer with the Community Response Unit. “This gives us an opportunity for the community to see how their police department is. When someone meets with a police officer under different circumstances, it’s a circumstance where they can come up and talk to us and see who we are as people.”
Cherry Hill Public Library staff bring a sunny attitude on a rainy day for National Night Out on Tuesday, August 6.
In addition to building relationships with the police department, it also offers the opportunity for residents to engage with other community organizations. For some organizations, like Accelerate Church in Cherry Hill, it was their first time attending.
“The community is going to be out and we wanted the opportunity to meet the people that’s in the community,” said Sarah Grant, outreach director at Accelerate Church. They also came to promote their event that was hosted on August 10 where they partnered with several other local churches to host a Back to School Drive in Camden where they gave away 1,000 book bags, uniforms, shoes, and food back to the community.
“We wanted the opportunity to meet the community but also let them know there’s another opportunity to serve them,” Grant added.
Members of the Accelerate Church planted three years ago in Cherry Hill attend National Night Out in Cherry Hill for the first time on Tuesday, August 6.
Others in the community had been attending National Night Out for years. Project Little Warriors, a nonprofit that provides youth with the opportunity to learn yoga and other mindfulness practices based in Haddonfield, attended for its fourth consecutive year.
“We love the Cherry Hill community,” said Ria Curry, owner of Project Little Warriors. “We teach in the Cherry Hill School District schools so we’ve built a really close relationship with Cherry Hill and our organization. We also have a close relationship between our organization and Cherry Hill Police Department where we partner at Cherry Hill High School West for their restorative practice program.
“As a result of students’ restorative solution rather than detention, they get to come to yoga and interact with a cop and having a positive experience in the classroom before hopefully not encountering them outside of school.”
Christy Carlson and Debbie Schmidt who run the nonprofit Just 2 Moms shared they were still able to connect with a few people during the rain. They are not licensed professionals–nor do they claim to be– but rather they are two moms with kids with autism who pivoted a few years ago from doing autism awareness programs in schools to providing support for families with a loved one with autism.
“We’re continuing to offer support with those individuals who have a loved one with autism, parents, caregivers,” said Carlson.
The tumultuous weather did not stop people from having a fun time. Inside the community center was packed. Food vendors were serving pizza, pretzels, water ice and Chic-fil-A.
“My favorite part about tonight is spending time with my friends and family,” said Imami Jones, a Cherry Hill resident who came with her family.
