Please do turn on your porch light and wander out to meet your neighbors this evening for National Night Out, the annual event that draws a line in the sand on crime.
But don't stop there. After sharing conversation, hot dogs, ice cream and whatever else the people in your neighborhood have planned, start a serious conversation. Really talk. Brainstorm. Set up another meeting on a different night, if need be. And commit to working together to identify and then to solve, in the coming year, a specific problem facing the community you call home. A park overrun by troublemaking teens, perhaps. Or gang activity, a drug house, graffiti, the need to expand a block watch, a recent uptick in violence or a vacant lot that's a magnet for trash. There's always something to take on -- unfortunately.
About 400 communities in 23 states participated in the first National Night Out 28 years ago, according to nationaltownwatch.org/nno. That swelled last year to 15,000 communities and 37 million people in all 50 states and in every U.S. territory and Canada. Even more participants are expected this year. Nearly 50 gatherings are planned today in the Twin Ports.
Imagine if everyone participating picked and then tackled a problem. Imagine all the good that could result and how much stronger our neighborhoods and communities could be by the time National Night Out 2012 rolls around.
