For almost 15 years, the Fruit Belt and East Side have played key roles in Buffalo’s National Night Out scene. This year, some organizers are increasing emphasis on youth engagement.
Fruit of the City Association Founder Benjamin Cashaw, formerly the FruitBelt Association, says this year will include new features like face painting, line dancing and a children’s story hour.
“If you don't include and train the children that they are part of a community, okay, get them used to giving back to the community that that has fostered them. Then when they get older, it's sad, you know, they become a little selfish.”
Fruit of the City’s National Night Out event starts at 5 p.m. on Aug. 5 at the William-Emslie YMCA. National Night Out is a program across the U.S. aimed at improving resident relations with police and other first responders, and promoting public safety.
Several communities in across Western New York will have their own NNO events, including multiple of Buffalo's block clubs, the Town of Tonawanda, Niagara Falls.
The annual event's importance only increases because it's a shared national event that residents can experience regardless of where they live, Cashaw said. But it's also essential on a local scale because it helps keep residents from getting isolated, he said.
"It fosters community, it fosters neighborhood. I remember living beside some people, and I didn't know (what) their last name was. I didn't know anything much about them," he said. "But way back when communities were neighborhoods, you knew who your neighbor was. You could go on a vacation and feel pretty comfortable."
