Good Deeds

E-mail your information about good deeds to connect@owh.com or call 402-444-1040.

Pass the syrup: The Citizen Patrol of the Keystone neighborhood will have an all-you-can eat pancake breakfast from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at VFW Post No. 2503, 89th Street and Military Avenue. The breakfast costs $5 for adults and $3 for children younger than 12. This is the patrol’s only fundraiser of the year.

Filling the barrels: In 2008, staff and visitors on the Nebraska Medical Center/University of Nebraska Medical Center campus donated a record 11 tons of food to the Omaha Food Bank. The goal is to break that record this year. The drive began Wednesday and will run through Nov. 18. Blue barrels are placed around the campus, plus at Clarkson West Medical Center, the Village Pointe Medical Center and UNMC Physicians offices and clinics.

By hook or by needle: The Heartland Council of Pioneers’ Hooks and Needles recently donated 36 handmade lap robes to the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society.

So many choices: The Bemis Park Citizen Patrol will be dishing it out at a “Chili Sampler” supper from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday in the basement of Augustana Lutheran Church, 38th Street and Lafayette Avenue. Several styles of homemade chili will be available, as well as hotdogs, chips, drinks and desserts. Cost is $5 a person. Proceeds will go for the purchase of equipment for the citizen patrols.

Something that sparkles, perhaps? The General Crook House Guild will have a fundraising Jewelry Fair from noon to 5 p.m. Nov. 15. Shop for handmade, vintage, costume and modern pieces inside the historic General Crook House, decorated for the holidays. The house is on the Metro Community College Fort Omaha campus, 5730 N. 30th St. Admission: $6.

A day of charity: Shop for crafts, bid at a silent auction and have a sloppy Joe for lunch at Saturday’s fourth annual American Red Cross Craft Show and Holiday Celebration. The 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. event will be at the Elks Lodge in Shenandoah, Iowa. Proceeds will help victims of disaster in Page County, Iowa. Admission: Freewill donation at the door.

Warmth of giving: Rockbrook merchants are collecting gently used winter apparel, including coats, gloves, hats, scarves and blankets. The drive, which began Thursday, will run through Dec. 3. The items will be donated to the Open Door Mission.

Having soul, giving sole: The Finish Line Inc., athletic footwear and apparel retailers, has announced that through its “Sole Destination” program about 92,500 pairs of gently used shoes will be donated to Soles4Souls, a charity that distributes shoes free worldwide to people in need. In addition to collecting the shoes at its retail stores and corporate and distribution facilities, Finish Line matched the donation of each pair with a $1 contribution to Soles4Souls to assist with shipping and distribution costs.

Feeding the hungry: The curtain will rise Thursday through Saturday and Nov. 19-21 in a fundraiser for Lincoln’s BackPack Program. “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” will be presented with dinner at 6 p.m. and curtain at 7:30 at Sheridan Lutheran Church in Lincoln. Cost: $16 for dinner and show, $8 for show only. Tickets are available at 402-423-4769 or www.sheridanlutheran.org.

On the run: Members of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity will run more than 220 miles to deliver a football from the steps of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln to Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kan. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln fraternity is making the run to raise funds for the TeamMates Mentoring Program. The fraternity’s goal is $10,000. The football run will kick off at 1 p.m. Thursday outside the north stadium. Athletic Director Tom Osborne, who founded TeamMates, will hand the football to the first runner. To support the run or become a mentor, call 1-877-531-8326 or visit www.teammates.org.

Winterizing: More than 100 students and leaders from the Gravity Youth Group at Glad Tidings Church recently helped the Open Door Mission prepare for winter. The group removed summer clothing from the shelves and restocked them with coats, hats, gloves and blankets.

Filling the barrels: The Walnut Grove Independent Retirement Community, 4901 S. 153rd St., is an official nonperishable food drop station for the Omaha Food Bank. Walnut Grove will be participating until January 2010 and has donation barrels in its lobby. Cleaning and laundry products, and eating and serving utensils also are accepted.

A toast to Rotary: Southwest Omaha Rotary’s recent Wine Tasting Fundraiser Event raised more than $6,800 for the Omaha Food Bank.

Santa’s Gift to Children: Santa’s Children Christmas Village in Macedonia, Iowa, will have a fundraiser Saturday and next Sunday. A craft and vendor fair, silent auction, bake sale and entertainment will be part of the Santa’s Gift to Children event.

Stacking it up: The Pancake Man will be flipping flapjacks from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday as the Students Against Violence at the College of St. Mary have their annual pancake feed. The pancake feed will be in Mercy Hall on campus. Cost: $5 for ages 12 and older, $3 for ages 4-11. Proceeds will go to help local groups provide education, training and assistance to combat domestic violence and sexual assault.

Helping Fido, Fluffy and more: The Animal Rescue Society’s 2009 Christmas Shopping Fundraiser will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at 72nd and L Streets. All proceeds will go to benefit the society’s rescued animals.

Where did the Muffin Man live? If you like games, then attend the National Kidney Foundation Serving Nebraska’s fundraising Trivia Night. It will be Nov. 20 at Firefighters Union Hall, 60th and Grover Streets. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with play beginning at 7 p.m. The cost is $150 for a table of eight. The fee includes registration and snacks; beverages are available for purchase. Participants must be 21 or older. The registration deadline is Nov. 16. To register a table, call 402-210-2436 or e-mail lori.bechtold@kidney.org.

Gearing up for others: Cranksgiving will return to Omaha at noon Saturday. Bike Masters, 129th and Fort Streets, once again will host the charity bicycle race to benefit the Omaha Food Bank. Each rider receives a list of 10 items that need to be purchased from 10 different stores. The first one back with a completed list wins. There is no entry fee. Riders must pay for the items they purchase. The theme for 2009 is “Fill the Truck,” an effort to provide an entire day’s worth of food and supplies. A concurrent fund drive will help, too. A link — and instructions — for online donations is available at cranksgiving-omaha.blogspot.com.

Santa for seniors: The “Be a Santa to a Senior” program this year will run through Dec. 9. Area retailers and agencies that serve older adults have teamed up to make sure that isolated seniors in Douglas and Sarpy Counties receive gifts and companionship during the holiday. Christmas trees have gone up in the U-Save Pharmacy in the Elkhorn area and in these Shopko stores: 3020 S. 84th St. and 14445 West Center Road in Omaha, 601 Galvin Road South in Bellevue, and 3271 Market Place Drive in Council Bluffs. Ornaments on the trees have the first names of the seniors and their respective gift requests. Holiday shoppers can pick up an ornament, buy items on the list and return them unwrapped to the store, along with the ornament attached. Home Instead Senior Care then will enlist the volunteer help of its staff, senior-care business associates, nonprofit workers and others to collect, wrap and distribute the gifts. A community gift-wrapping event will be Dec. 11. For more information, go to www.beasantatoasenior.com.

Holiday dinners: Catholic Charities and Operation Others have partnered for the second year to collect Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for more than 2,000 families in the Omaha area. It costs $25 to feed each family a full holiday meal. Cash donations can be sent by Nov. 23 to Catholic Charities, 3300 N. 60th St. For Thanksgiving, 500 families will receive meals. The remaining families will receive Christmas meals. — Compiled by Sue Story Truax