Savannah celebrates first Latino “National Night Out”

Savannah’s first Latino “National Night Out” was held on August 5th in the Hudson Hill Community, an inner city neighborhood bordering the Savannah River’s Talmadge Bridge.

Sponsored by Maria Elena Bowden and outreach workers from the Latin American Services Organization (LASO), the event was designed to empower local residents in their fight against neighborhood crime.

Since its inception in 1984, “National Night Out” has grown into a nationwide campaign involving 12,000 communities and nearly 40 million residents.

The Savannah event attracted nearly 100 Hispanic residents who ate pizza, tamales, arroz y frijoles while listening to community representatives discuss various programs available to the community.

After Bowden read an opening poem, Marta Kaufman told the residents about LASO’s services and bilingual Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Officer George Tupac offered several ideas on ways the residents could fight against crime in their neighborhood.

Maria Hale, Tere Rivera, Diego Torres, Sharon Tupac and Sister Pat Brown also spoke and at the end of the event, Iris de la Torre sang a beautiful song about her Peruvian homeland.