More than 300 residents from Valley Village, Toluca Lake and surrounding areas made their way to Valley Village Park to celebrate National Night Out on August 4. The annual nationwide campaign builds camaraderie among public safety personnel and the people they serve, fostering civic partnerships and strengthening community relationships in an effort to make neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live.
For the past 22 years, Neighborhood Council Valley Village (NCVV) has funded and produced the local gathering. This year’s event was held in partnership with the Valley Village Residents Association, North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry (NHIFP) and L.A. City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian. “This is a unique annual opportunity for neighbors to meet each other and also share face time with public safety officials, including police and sheriff’s departments as well as firefighters, city officials and others,” NCVV vice president Suzanne Lewis says.
The evening drew several prominent public safety leaders who addressed attendees, including L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, along with LAPD North Hollywood Captains Warner Castillo and Gregory Morgan and Toluca Lake Senior Lead Officer Kurtis Delbar. Assemblymember Nick Schultz, Councilmember Nazarian and other local elected officials also joined the festivities.
Attendees toured LAFD fire trucks and ambulances and the LAPD Mobile Command Unit, joined an LAPD glowstick walk, enjoyed food and refreshments from Target and Starbucks, perused informational booths hosted by local businesses and organizations, participated in raffles and grooved to the smooth calypso sounds of the Jimmy Dale Band (“The hit of the evening, as it is every year,” Lewis notes).
NCVV also took the opportunity to support its ongoing partnership with NHIFP by setting up a booth to collect unopened, nonperishable food for people and pets in need. “We are very happy to partner with them at every community event we sponsor throughout the year,” Lewis shares. “According to NHIFP officials, there was an excellent response to the food drive at our event.”
By all accounts, the evening was a success, bringing together neighbors and public officials to raise awareness of public safety and crime prevention initiatives across the area. “NCVV is proud to be a part of National Night Out and is grateful to all of the community leaders who make our event a success,” Lewis says.