FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. (October 3, 2023) – Continuing to cultivate the relationship between law enforcement and the community, agencies hosted the annual National Night Out event on Tuesday, across America.
In Flagler County, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office partnered with local support agencies to create a welcoming atmosphere on the campus of Flagler Palm Coast High School.
Offering kids a chance to explore, the agency rolled out the big toys for youngsters.
“National Night Out is where the community comes together and really shows the criminals that together we can take a bite out of crime,” said Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly.
“You can see some of our equipment, let your kids walk through our mobile command center, some of our SWAT equipment.”
Families were excited to talk with the Sheriff, snapping commemorative photos and nabbing goodies as they made their way through the event.
“It takes a whole village to keep our community safe and these are the partners,” said Staly.
Among the organizations on site, Students Working Against Tobacco shared news of their upcoming parks cleanup campaigns in an effort to one day transition parks in Palm Coast to antismoking areas, according to Tobacco Free Florida Community Engagement Specialist Rochelle Stone.
“We’re trying to actually do our parks tobacco free so Saturday we’re starting our first park cleanup. Every Saturday, the first Saturday of the month we’re going to do different parks in Palm Coast,” shared Stone.
“The beaches are tobacco-free so now we’re working on the parks,” she said, with Seminole Woods Park first on the list, starting at 9 AM.
“Tonight, we are giving out information about our parks cleanups, we’re also talking about vaping and the dangers of vaping.”
Adding FCSO’s ‘Teddy’ the therapy dog to her line of cute and cuddly stuffed animals, Emma Stanford, founder of Emma Loves K9s, is happy to see the organization continue growing and bringing joy to others, while supporting the K9s of agencies across the nation at the same time.
“We’ve expanded to a lot more departments and reached out to a lot more people which helped us grow and help more dogs,” said Stanford.
Not to be missed, the Flagler Sheriff’s Police Athletic League fall lineup is making it’s way around the community, with public outreach events, trunk or treats, and more.
“We’re supporting law enforcement in our community. We love seeing the community out here and growing this program on this night every year. It’s important for people to come out and support law enforcement and we love telling people about the fall programs,” said PAL Program Manager Kerri Henderson.
Giving busy moms and dads the night off, members of the local Kiwanis Clubs grilled hotdogs, and providing meals for hungry volunteers and attendees while Chuck Cullen served up his famous Kona Ice treats. Both were happy to be part of the family-friendly event.
Warren Mudd, President of the Flagler-Palm Coast Kiwanis Club and Les Lohnes, President of the Kiwanis Club of Flagler County were happy to work side-by-side.
“Our mission is kids. We sponsor the Key Clubs in both high schools, K-Kids, Terrific Kids, so we cover the whole gamut, from kids that are like this to high school,” shared Lohnes.
“We have identical goals. We team up. There’s more done by working together,” said Mudd.
Across the county, the Bunnell Police Department teamed up with the Florida Highway Patrol to do their part in connecting with residents. Offering hot dogs and pizza, families came out to enjoy the evening together.
