The following are fundraisers, donations and other charitable events or opportunities happening in the Midlands. E-mail your information about good deeds to connect@owh.com or call 402-444-1040.
He’s our brother: Sisters Emily and Sarah Schmidt, students at St. Gerald School in Ralston, are leading a campaign to promote epilepsy awareness. The cause is personal: Sam, their 10-year-old brother, has epilepsy. He’s a fourth-grader at Madonna School in Omaha. Eighth-grader Emily and sixth-grader Sarah worked with the owners of Cupcake Island, 1314 S. 119th St., for a fundraiser that will run Monday through Saturday. Cupcake Island will feature purple cupcakes and donate a portion of their sales to the Anita Kaufmann Foundation, which provides educational materials on epilepsy awareness and seizure first aid. Purple cupcakes were chosen because Saturday will be international “Wear Purple for Epilepsy Day.” The sisters also distributed purple pins and seizure first aid bookmarks Friday to St. Gerald students. And the school finished up a penny war Friday to raise money for the foundation. Emily, Sarah and Sam’s parents are Eric and Mary Anne Schmidt of La Vista.
Weeding out Hunger: From noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, the public can help with Weeding out Hunger in the metro area. Halex GT Corn Herbicide will have a food drive and offer a chance to interact with the Halex GT robot. People are encouraged to bring nonperishable food donations to the Halex GT truck, which will be at Mexico Lindo, 2210 W. Broadway in Council Bluffs. The food will be delivered to local food banks in areas where Halex GT is sold.
Volunteers serve: More than 1,500 University of Nebraska at Omaha students, Omaha Public Schools high school and middle school students, and community volunteers on Saturday began the annual Seven Days of Service. Volunteers will help through this Saturday at 20 work sites throughout Omaha and Council Bluffs.
Music to choirs’ ears: KFC will open its restaurant doors to some choirs to help them raise funds. In all, 11 choirs nationwide will each get a $1,000 grant. Choirs interested in participating should send an inquiry e-mail describing how they could make beautiful music in a KFC near them. Include the organization’s name and contact information and send to KFCSundayBuckets@gmail.com. Nominations will be accepted through March 31.
Say “cheese” for babies: March of Dimes Team Maisy will host a Healthy Babies fundraiser from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Chuck E. Cheese, 225 N. 76th St. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Nebraska March of Dimes.
Music for shoes: The College of St. Mary student group DUO (Do Unto Others) will host a benefit concert Thursday to support TOMS Shoes and its “One for One” program that provides shoes for children in need worldwide. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St., with doors opening at 7 p.m. The rock band Fools & Horses will be featured. In Love will be the opening act. Tickets, $10, may be purchased at the door.
Easing violence: “Girls Nite Out” in Valley, a fundraiser for the Fremont Area Crisis Shelter for Domestic Violence, will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at The Gallery, Eclectic Gift Shop and Delicious! Pastry Cafe. The stores will offer a percentage of sales that evening to the shelter. A Wishing Tree also will allow patrons to fulfill items on the shelter’s wish list. Call or e-mail Wendy, Trudy and Jeannie at 402-660-7040 or wendydeane@cox.net if you will attend so they can plan for enough food and beverages.
Stack ’em high: The Kiwanis Club in Hastings, Neb., will serve all-you-can-eat pancakes with sausage and a beverage from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Hastings City Auditorium. Tickets at the door are $7 for adults and $6 for children age 12 and younger. Proceeds will benefit Kiwanis programs for youths in the Hastings area.
Robotics support: Middle school students on the robotics team at Mary Our Queen School are raising money to participate in the VEX Robotics World Championships in April in Orlando, Fla. The students sell discount cards good at area merchants and accept donations each Friday through April 8 at the Mary Our Queen fish fries, which run from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 3405 S. 118th St.
TeamMates event: Reservations are due Friday for the 7:30 p.m. March 30 fundraiser, Lincoln TeamMates Night at the Lied, featuring the 2010 Talent for TeamMates winners. They will open for fiddle champion and step dancer April Verch. Reserve your tickets by Friday at www.lincolnteammates.org.
Relays for Life: Many Nebraska high school and college students will be staying up all night this spring to fight cancer through the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life events. Besides college events on their own campuses, Omaha area high schools will team for a youth event at the Omaha Sports Complex. College and youth Relay for Life events will begin at 6 p.m. Friday at Creighton University’s Kiewit Fitness Center; at 6 p.m. April 2 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Cook Pavilion; at 6 p.m. April 8 at Fuhrer Fieldhouse at Doane College in Crete; at 6 p.m. April 8 at University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Sapp Fieldhouse; at 6 p.m. April 15 for Omaha Youth at Omaha Sports Complex; and at 6 p.m. April 15 at Nebraska Wesleyan University’s Knight Fieldhouse in Lincoln. For more information about any of these events, contact the society in Omaha at 402-393-5801, in Lincoln at 402-423-4893 or online at www.RelayForLife.org.
Medical aid: Project CURA, a Creighton University School of Medicine student-run group, will hold a silent auction from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday in the Skutt Student Center ballroom on campus. Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for students. Ethnic foods representing each CURA-served country and wine will be provided. Proceeds will be used to send medical supplies and students worldwide to provide free medical care.
Help for a family: Christopher Allen Martin died unexpectedly Jan. 18 at the age of 30. A benefit for his wife, Jenny, and their two daughters will begin at noon Saturday at Fort Crook Billiards Food & Spirits, 908 Fort Crook Road South in Bellevue. Look for raffles, a silent auction, hot dog bar, craft show, bake sale and, beginning at 9 p.m., live music. Admission is $5 at the door.
Support for mediation: Concord Center will have a beer & pizza tasting fundraiser Saturday. Proceeds will benefit the center in helping people resolve conflict through mediation. The tasting will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Pizza Shoppe in Benson, 6056 Maple St. For reservations, call 402-884-8680.
Game feed: Omaha Area Bikers are having a fundraiser to benefit the Nebraska Spina Bifida Foundation. The all-you-can-eat Wild Game Feed will be from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at VFW Post #2503, 8904 Military Road. The cost is $15 for adults and $5 for children younger than 10.
For the kids: A March Madnezz Fundraising event for Boys & Girls Clubs of Council Bluffs will be from 12:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 27 at Barley’s Bar & Grill, 14 W. Broadway in Council Bluffs. Watch the televised basketball games, enjoy a Chicago-style hot dog and drinks, and bid on sports memorabilia. Tickets, $20, can be purchased by calling 712-256-6029 or at Barley’s door.
On their toes: Heartland Youth Ballet will have a fundraising performance at 7 p.m. April 2 at Joslyn Castle, 3902 Davenport St. Tickets are $20. Make reservations by calling 402-334-1711.
Buzzing against cancer: Ralston High School’s National Honor Society is sponsoring a benefit for St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which funds childhood cancer research. Raising funds for St. Baldrick’s involves shaving heads. A faculty member and several students will give it up for the cause. To donate, visit http://www.stbaldricks.org/events/ralstonhighschool and click on “Make a donation.” On April 8, the hair will be cut off.
Fuel bank, too: Food Bank for the Heartland has a request for those who have food drives — bring donations to the food bank instead of asking it to pick them up. The reason is the rising cost of fuel. The food bank budgeted $68,000 for fuel in the current fiscal year, which includes monthly runs as far west as Scottsbluff, Neb., and as far east as Red Oak, Iowa. Actual expenses could reach $90,000 if prices rise as predicted. Fuel prices affect Midlands families, too, translating into more requests for food help.
Feeding the hungry: Cassling employees, including those in Omaha, collected more than $1,055 in food donations to support local food bank organizations across six Cassling territories. Cassling is a health care firm that provides imaging equipment, marketing and other services.
Compiled by Sue Story Truax
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