Community Safety Fair set for August 11
By Jessica Brewer, Lawrence Memorial Hospital
With students from elementary school to college heading back to school soon, the Lawrence community wants to make sure they’re going back safer than ever.
The Lawrence Police Department and Lawrence Fire Department will be having a school supply drive competition at the safety fair. Both departments will bring a company SUV to be filled as full as possible with supplies that will be donated back to the Lawrence community. Bring anything you can from pencils to folders and more and put the supplies in the SUV of whichever department you want to win. Ready. Set. Cram the cruiser!
On Saturday Aug. 11, the Lawrence community will join together for a community safety fair in South Park. There will be food trucks, activities, bounce houses and entertainment for all ages.
Local organizations including the Lawrence Police Department, Bert Nash Mental Health Center and LMH Health will be offering all things safety.
“We will all come together as a community,” said Sergeant Amy Rhoads, Public Affairs Officer for the Lawrence Police Department. “Everyone will be able to engage, interact, and have good conversations with each other and the community.”
The event is tailored to touch on all areas of safety. There will be information about bus safety, child safety restraints, gun safety, avoiding internet scams and much more.
“I am most excited to meet with the students and their families and prepare them for the year ahead,” Rhoads said.
The Lawrence community has prepared a morning full of fun. The following organizations will be at the event sharing safety information with the community:
- Bert Nash – WRAP Program and Mental Health First Aid
- Be Smart – Gun safety
- Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence – Organization information
- Crime Stoppers – Organization information
- Douglas County Emergency Communication Center – 911 information
- Douglas County Sherriff’s Office – Cell phone safety with an obstacle course and Cram the Cruiser activity
- Emergency Management – General preparedness, wheel of misfortune and mobile command vehicle
- Health Department – Information about immunizations and organization programs and services
- KUPD – General information
- KVC – General Information
- LDCFM – Smoke house touch a truck and Cram the Cruiser activity
- LMH Health – Car seat education
- Lawrence Police Department – Crisis Intervention Training, internet safety/scams and Cram the Cruiser activity
- Lawrence Police Foundation – Dunk tank
- Lawrence School Foundation – Cram the Cruiser activity
- Metropolitan Planning Organization – Bike plan
- Parks and Rec – Healthy living
- Transit – Buss pass and bus safety
- USD497 – Bike safety with bike courses
- Willow Domestic Violence Center – Domestic violence information
Entertainment:
- A&B entertainment – Bounce houses
- Easy G and the Blue Notes – Providing Music
- Sugarfoot Detour - Providing music
- McGruff the Crime Dog
- Police, Fire and Emergency car tours
Food Vendors
- Torched Goodness
- Hog Wild
- Air Summer Snow
- Grinders
The event will be held in South Park from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11. Everyone in the Lawrence community is invited to attend, learn and enjoy presentations, good food and fresh air as we celebrate the new school year beginning. It will be a great school year, let’s make it a safe one too.
Jessica Brewer is an intern in the Marketing and Communications Department at LMH, which is a major sponsor of Lawrence Journal-World’s health section. She can be reached at Jessica.Brewer@lmh.org.
