Moorestown’s first annual National Night Out and first responders’ wiffle ball game will be held at the Jack Hannon Full Throttle Wiffle Ball Park at Memorial Field on Tuesday, Aug. 6, at 6 p.m.
Community members can meet and support first responders, and the event will include a K-9 demonstration, emergency vehicles, a public works display, food trucks, face painting and a bounce house.
Moorestown’s first National Night Out was mainly organized by the township’s police department and the Moorestown Better Together Advisory Committee. The objective of Better Together Moorestown is to explore how the township can better protect and celebrate diversity and ensure inclusion and equity among its residents, businesses and visitors, according to the township’s website.
The task force recommends strategies and action plans that drive positive change and promote a thriving and prosperous town.
“It’s ensuring that people in Moorestown know that we are here and that we are very aware and listening to what is going on,” said Lisette Gonzalez, chair of Better Together Moorestown, of the committee.
“And we want to ensure that people know that we are trying to be as inclusive as possible in our town, and I believe that (Moorestown) Mayor (Nicole) Gillespie is doing a good job and ensuring that that happens.”
National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that takes place around the country to promote police-community relationships, according to www.natw.org. The event is an opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances.
“The goal is to get the residents out, meet their first responders – whether it’s the fire, whether it’s the police – and just put a face on everybody so everybody feels great about the people that are responding and protecting them,” explained township Police Director Patrick J. Reilly, Jr.
“We’re going to make it a fun night with the wiffle ball contest between police and fire.”
Reilly came to Moorestown last June after about 14 years with the Burlington County Bridge Commission, where he served as director of public safety and homeland security. Prior to that, he logged 25 years with the state police, with duties that ran the gamut from field operations to information technology and training.
Reilly sees Moorestown’s National Night Out as a chance to put a face on the township’s police department and inspire people to come forward with any questions or concerns they may have.
“ … What I’ve seen is that it’s a young crew here (the township’s police department), so we’re trying to cultivate and create that culture of engagement,” Reilly noted, “and wanting them to interact, get them out on the sports fields on the weekends, get out of the car, walk around, see what’s going on …
“It gives people a level of comfort that they know that they (police) are out there, but it also tells them that they’re a part of Moorestown,” he added. “I think that’s the most important feeling, is that the police department is there for them.
“They’re not just out there, driving around, only responding to calls when they have too.”
Moorestown’s first annual National Night Out is also another way for residents to learn that law enforcement and first responders serve to protect their neighbors. Gonzalez looks forward to seeing how the event will help keep residents safe.
“Our goal is to really ensure that people in the neighborhood understand that these people are just human beings, just like anybody else, doing a job, ensuring that everyone follows the rules and the laws in our town,” she observed.
“We’re hoping that people in our community see the first responders as someone that they can feel free to feel safe with, and to make sure that, when they see something, they say something,” Gonzalez added. “And they’re not afraid to report things that are happening in our community, because the police department and the fire department and the EMTs, they’re all there to ensure that Moorestown stays a safe and good community to live in.”
