National Night Out isn’t until August 7th, but that evening is going to sneak up on you and you won’t be prepared. Start planning your block party now and you’ll have a fantastic National Night Out.

National Night Out is an annual event to encourage community involvement. When you get to know your neighbors you strenthen your community and make it  a safer place to live and raise your family. National Night Out also encourages and enhances the relationship between residents and law enforcement.

You can start planning your block party now by doing several things.

Pick a date – National Night Out is always the first Tuesday in August, but you don’t have to have your block party on that date. Choose a date when neighbors are most likely to attend.

Start an online neighborhood group – You can create a neighborhood group in Facebook or on Nextdoor.com. Both are great places to communicate with residents about community events – like the block party. It’s also an easy way to stay in contact.

Invitations – You can do a lot of the work online, but it helps to go door to door and invite people in person. It’s also a great way to meet the newest neighbors.

Delegate – It’s a lot of work to plan a block party so don’t be afraid to delegate the many tasks. This can be done in the Facebook or Nextdoor.com group. Create a signup sheet or form for neighbors to choose tasks. Who will bring food, who will bring beverages, who will provide yard games, etc?

Entertainment for the kids – If you register early enough you can often have the local fire department visit your block part with the big firetrucks for the kids to explore. This is one of the favorite parts of the evening so you want to sign up as soon as possible.

Clean up – Be sure to provide a garbage can or two for people to toss their plates and cans or bottles after a fun night of getting to know each other.

A block party is one of the best ways to keep your neighborhood safe. The more neighbors get to know one another the more they are to look out for each other. Click here to register for National Night Out.