Friday night's Pop Up event at Shake and Bake was all about stamping out the violence in the city and giving Baltimore's youth a safe and productive outlet.
State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, along with Mayor Catherine Pugh and police are working hand in hand to make the city a nurturing place for its young people, especially during the summer months. One of the ways they're doing that is with special "pop up" events every Friday of the summer.
"We have to figure out ways on how we can get to our young people before they get to the criminal justice system and that's been a top priority," Mosby said.
Dozens of kids all aged 17 and under enjoyed a free way to beat the heat and stay out of crime's way this summer.
"Everybody's doing something to have an outlet for the kids and I thought it was just nice for them to supply an event so they could go somewhere for free," parent Rhonda Rhodes said.
For parents, the events sponsored by various city leaders and organizations is a way to give their kids a safe night out.
"I think the message that's being sent right now is that we are going to try meet the kids where they need to be met we're going to try to open up the city for the children so we can events going on, keep them occupied, keep them safe," said Melvin Coates.
Mosby says she's planning lots of different activities--all to raise the city's youth up.
"There's an increase in violence between the hours of four and seven on Friday nights. So what are we going to do? Let's make these young people productive."
Parents were grateful for a break both on them and on their wallets for a welcoming place for their kids to have fun.
"It gives the kids something to do other than run the streets," Coates said.
Twelve more pop up events are expected this summer, every Friday night, but you wont know where the next one is until the day before.
You can sign up for alerts on when and where future pop up events will be by texting "BALTSAO" to 468311 or visit the State's Attorney's website by clicking here.
