LSU Health New Orleans Supports NOPD’s Night Out Against Crime

Community residents attending NOPD’s 2019 Night Out Against Crime Kick-Off event on Lafitte Greenway were delighted with the activities offered by LSU Health New Orleans faculty, staff and students. Especially popular were the gardening demonstration where children planted seeds to take home and watch grow and the kick-boxing, hula hoops, nerf ballgames and other outdoor sports. Close behind were the delicious salad prepared on-site, complete with the recipe and healthy snacks.

Even the mounts of NOPD’s Mounted Unit got a tasty and healthy snack. Public Health students hand fed them baby carrots. Those treats helped fuel the spirited prancing and dancing to DJ Wild Wayne’s music that followed.

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More than 20 faculty, staff and students from LSU Health New Orleans’ Schools of Nursing and Public Health supported this year’s official Night Out Against Crime event. The nursing students, under the supervision of Quin Lacey, PhD, RN, Instructor of Clinical Nursing, conducted health screenings. They measured blood pressure and blood glucose levels. They taught members of the community and first responders about the importance of knowing your numbers and healthy lifestyle choices.

Along with Melinda Sothern, Ph.D., Professor, and Maria Blanco, M.Ed., LSU Health School of Public Health, MPH students and staff from the new Healthier Together Family Program for pre-diabetic and diabetic children and their families promoted healthy nutrition and physical activity and Students for Sustainability demonstrated gardening basics.

LSU Health New Orleans volunteers also included Christina Leggio, Julianna Yaeger, Adelyn Becker, Jacob Kirkman, Lijah Hanzy, Ana Lopez, Anna Lopez, Amanda Parenti, Morgan Doll, Amanda Tran, Madison O’Grodnick, Alexander Osborne, Gabrielle Gonzales, Madeline Shaw, Asha Regmi, Pragya Bhattarai, Michelle Kendall and Bailey Gentile.

According to the City of New Orleans, the National Night Out Against Crime in New Orleans is a community-wide event to raise crime prevention awareness, reduce crime and increase the support of local, state and federal law enforcement. It began more than 30 years ago with NOPD officer Kelly Marrione.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson and NOPD leadership were most appreciative of all that LSU Health brought to the event. The Health Sciences Center was one of the partners with the largest number of both volunteers and offerings.

For some members of the community, this was the first time in a long time that they had their pressures taken or glucose levels tested. The information they learned either confirmed that their numbers were good, or that they needed to visit their health care providers.

This is the fifth year that LSU Health New Orleans faculty and students came out in force to help NOPD kick off Night Out Against Crime, each year outdoing the previous one. Outreach and community service are part of the mission of Louisiana’s most comprehensive health professions university. The event not only gives LSU Health an opportunity to support our law enforcement and first responder partners, but it also gives the student volunteers the opportunity to meet some of the people they’ll soon be treating as patients.