“Hello! Hola! Zdravstvuite!”
That’s what visitors will hear at the South Everett Neighborhood Center Tuesday night.
The community event – one of the dozens of National Night Out gatherings in Snohomish County – will be a chance for non-English speakers to learn about crime prevention in their own language.
The center, , 6315 Fleming St., Suite B, is hosting its fifth annual free food-and-entertainment neighborhood get-together in English, Spanish and Russian. It hopes to attract people in the neighborhood who may otherwise not get the chance to hear about child identification programs, quit lines for smokers and the dangers of violent video games. The event runs until 9 p.m.
“Whether they’re immigrants or from Oregon and just moved to the area, they’re going to feel comfortable coming to this event,” said Juanita Clifford, the center’s program coordinator .
The Latino and Russian families, who often can’t afford to bring their children to a weekend event, will benefit from the free food, arts, crafts, and entertainment, Clifford said.
It’s a chance for them to learn how to secure their cars, spot meth labs and listen to politicians pitching for an elected seat at the “candidacy corner.”
About 10 neighborhoods are hosting National Night Out gatherings in Everett alone this year, city crime prevention officer Steve Paxton said.
The nationwide event pushes for stronger neighborhood crime-watch programs, heightens drug prevention awareness and sends a message to criminals that neighborhoods are organized to fight back.
“There’s a lot of opportunities for folks to ask questions they normally might not ask, like what’s the noise ordinance for barking dogs,” Paxton said.
More than 34 million people in communities across the country attended similar events last year, Lynnwood police spokeswoman Shannon Sessions said.
The south Everett event is open to everyone, Clifford said. She’s even started an annual cake-walk competition to give developmentally disabled people a chance to participate.
Most of the other neighborhood gatherings “seem pretty similar,” Clifford said. “They block their streets off and have barbecues. So we’re pretty unique.”
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