Chantel Fowler, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hancock County, helps a little girl pick out a backpack at the 7th annual Community Night at the Hancock County Fairgrounds on Wednesday, July 19.
Shelley Swift | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — The line for the 7th annual Community Night at the Hancock County Fairgrounds snaked through the paved area outside the exhibit hall almost as soon as the event started at 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 19.
Hundreds of families attended the free event, which featured a free meal and giveaways, including backpacks stuffed with back-to-school supplies.
Visitors were given canvas bags at the entrance to collect giveaways and information from the various booths they visited, including local first responders and numerous nonprofits that serve Hancock County.
Nearly 40 nonprofits were set up in the sheep barn, where guests were encouraged to have their passports stamped at at least 15 booths for a chance to win raffles hosted by Firefly Children & Family Alliance.
The event — hosted in part by Hancock4Kids — was as well attended as ever.
“This is amazing,” said Ericka Walda, who brought her kids and nephews all the way from Muncie to attend community night after she heard about it on the news.
“School supplies are so expensive, so this is a great help,” said Walda, as she positioned a plastic firefighters hat on her 2-year-old daughter, Sloan.
The local fire, police and sheriff’s departments played a big role in the event, where each department mingled with the public as the line of attendees passed by their information booths.
“I think this is a great thing for the community,” said Amy Parrish, office manager for the Greenfield Fire Department, who handed out plastic hats, stickers and pencils to the long line of attendees.
Rita Sword has been coming to Community Night ever since her 6-year-old son Colton was in preschool.
“I think it helps a lot of parents who are struggling (financially),” she said. “I know it helped me a lot when I was a single mom.”
Laura Mixon of Greenfield, who brought along her son Knute, 10, and daughter Kalie, 6, also thought the event was a great way to support families.
“I think it’s awesome, and it’s also a great way to teach kids about safety,” she said.
First responders shared safety tips and presented demonstrations for the crowd, including an auto extraction and rope rescue and demonstrations by SWAT and K9 teams. There were also free car seat checks and booster seat giveaways.
Amanda Everidge embraced the opportunity to spread the word about the organization she runs, Healthy365, which connects people with an array of services through its Connection Center.
“One of our biggest barriers to treatment is a lack of awareness about services available, so this helps tremendously,” said Everidge, who was manning a table giving away bags of fresh produce from Hoosier Harvest Market.
“This is a great way for us to be able to serve the community and connect them with the services they may need,” she said.
