Seattle’s Church of Scientology and volunteers with the Foundation for a Drug-Free World host their annual block party celebrating National Night Out in support of community anti-crime and drug prevention efforts
The Church of Scientology hosted its annual block party to celebrate National Night Out. The party featured a live band, a professional balloon artist, and a face painter for the kids. Guests age 2 to 94 were treated to hamburgers and hot dogs cooked on a mobile barbecue grill in a converted classic 1924 Model-T Ford—an annual block party tradition.
Seattle Police Department Crime Prevention supports National Night Out “to heighten crime prevention awareness, increase neighborhood support in anti-crime efforts, and unite our communities.” The annual event is designed to
engage neighborhoods in local crime- and drug-abuse prevention activities.
“It’s important to us to work with our police department to support anti-crime and drug prevention efforts,” said Rev. Ann Pearce, Director of Public Affairs for the Seattle Church. “We are members of the city’s block watch program for our area. This annual block party is also a great opportunity to renew friendships and meet new neighbors.”
The Church-sponsored National Night Out was one of dozens held throughout the greater Seattle area and more than 130 throughout the state.
Despite the lighthearted tone of the community get-together, drug abuse is a critical problem in Seattle. Volunteers of the local chapter of Foundation for a Drug-Free World, the Church-supported drug education and prevention initiative, set up a booth making their Truth About Drugs educational materials available free of charge to all attending.
Drug prevention is vital in light of the recent spike in overdose deaths in Seattle. Downtown Seattle Association reports: “Overdose death counts continue to rise at a startling rate in Washington state. Between September 2022 and September 2023, Washington reported a 41 percent rise in drug overdose fatalities—the steepest increase in the United States. As the most populous county in the state, King County saw the highest number of overdose deaths, a majority of them concentrated in Seattle and downtown. In 2023, overdose deaths downtown represented more than 11 percent of overdose deaths within King County.”
Volunteers with the Church make these materials available broadly through seminars, conferences, at fairs, festivals and other venues across Washington state.
“Prevention and education are critical to stopping the current drug crisis,” said Dave Scattergood, Seattle-based ambassador to the Foundation for a Drug-Free World who is featured in an episode of Voices for Humanity on the Scientology Network. “Not only do drugs make it easier for people to commit crimes because their judgment is altered, but they have that need to make the money to get the drugs. So the two really go hand in hand. I want to see a world where people can live in prosperity and freedom. And you can’t do that when you’re addicted to drugs.”
According to the United Nations Office on Drug Abuse and Crime, “For every dollar spent on prevention, at least ten can be saved in future health, social and crime costs.”
Noting the role substance abuse plays in the disintegration of the social fabric, Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “Research has demonstrated that the single most destructive element present in our current culture is drugs.”
The Church of Scientology Seattle is committed to working with the community to resolve this issue. The Church was dedicated by Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige in July 2010. An Ideal Scientology Organization, it is configured to service Scientologists in their ascent to spiritual freedom and serve as a home for the entire community—a meeting ground of cooperative effort to uplift people of all denominations.
