The Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library partnered with the Seventh Police Precinct for a National Night Out event on Tuesday, Aug. 2, at William Floyd High School.

National Night Out is a nationwide community-based initiative to fight crime by hosting family-friendly events. In attendance were officers from the Seventh Precinct, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, elected officials, Fidelis Care, the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County, the Warrior Ranch Foundation, and many more. There was also a field full of families.

At the event there was a bounce house, a DJ, emergency medical services and fire vehicle demos, free child safety ID kits sponsored by NY Life, and free food sponsored by Applebee’s of Shirley.

“When kids get to meet the firefighters and the ambulance personnel, it’s a really big deal,” said Tara D’Amato, assistant director at the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library and one of the organizers of National Night Out, adding, “you know, because these [kids], they look up to them like heroes.”

The Seventh Precinct reached out to the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library to co-run this event. D’Amato worked with Frank Raspanti, a community liaison officer at the Seventh Precinct.

“We were very happy when they said that they needed someone to help them organize it,” D’Amato said. “So we said, ‘Well, we’ll be happy to jump in and do that with you.’”

Raspanti also invited the Warrior Ranch Foundation, a “safe haven of health and well-being” for veterans and first responders with equine assisted learning therapy, according to founder and president, Eileen Shanahan.

The Warrior Ranch Foundation brought a horse to National Night Out for first responders and families to experience.

“We are there to support them because they serve and protect us every second of every day,” Shanahan said. “We appreciate them and we want to be there for them.”