The following are fundraisers, donations and other charitable events or opportunities happening in the Midlands. Email your information about good deeds to connect@owh.com or call 402-444-1040.
By the pallet: Local employees of First Data on Friday collected and delivered about 45,000 items to the Siena-Francis House homeless shelter. Items included coffee, laundry detergent, bottled water, socks, trash can liners and individually packaged snacks and treats for sack lunches.
Four chances to give: Easter Seals Nebraska and Granite City Food & Brewery at Westroads Mall have teamed for four benefits, beginning Thursday. The restaurant will donate a portion of Thursday's sales to Easter Seals. Other events to benefit the charity will include Brew Schools on June 16, July 20 and Aug. 9. Reservations for the Brew School events, $35 a person, can be made by calling 402-345-2200, ext. 1115.
Fundraiser: Members of the Todd Koeppe family of Papillion recently lost wife and mother Susan Koeppe to limbic encephalitis. She was an active volunteer in the community. A tailgate dinner and silent auction to help pay her medical bills will begin at 6 p.m. Friday at Firefighters Union Hall, 60th and Grover Streets in Omaha. Donations also are accepted at American National Bank, Koeppe Family Benefit, c/o William Wunderlich, 1413 S. Washington St., Papillion, NE 68046.
Pass the Parmesan, please: The Underwood Hills Community Group, also called Parent Pride, will host Spaghetti on the Green from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Underwood Hills Focus School, 9030 Western Ave. The event will feature a spaghetti dinner, silent auction, raffles, bake sale, mini-carnival and more. Spaghetti on the Green is a fundraiser for the school. Meal tickets are $6 and wristbands are $5, both available at the door.
Family event: The third annual Bouncin' Blues & BBQ, a benefit for CrossOver Prison Ministries, will run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at Benson Park, 70th Street and Military Avenue. The festival will offer family friendly-priced barbecue, a free blues band, and free activities for children. Members of CrossOver Prison Ministries assist prisoners in their spiritual journey and rehabilitation inside and outside of prison. Half of the proceeds from the event will go for Christmas gifts for children of incarcerated parents, the rest will support CrossOver Prison Ministries Correspondence Program.
Feed the Bug: Sunshine Stitches will host a “Feed the Bug” event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday during Taste of Pepperwood. Sunshine Stitches will have a quilted Volkswagen bug in front of the shop, 525 N. 155th Plaza, for customers to place a nonperishable food item inside. Area merchants will collect donations for Food Bank for the Heartland.
On the road: A poker run, meal and dance Saturday will benefit the Brent Zoucha Memorial Scholarship. Activities will begin with noon registration at 305 Memorial Lane in Clarks, Neb. Riders will depart at 1 p.m. and return to Clarks. The meal will be served at 6 p.m. at the Clarks VFW, followed at 8 p.m. by a dance in the same place. Admission for the day's events is $20 a person or $5 for the dance only. Marine Lance Cpl. Zoucha was killed in action June 9, 2006, in Iraq.
Looking out for infants: The Omaha Area Bikers 25th annual Charity Run will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Zone Lounge, 2615 S. 120th St. The charity ride will start and end at the inn. The cost is $20 per person for the run and after-party or $5 per person for the party only. All proceeds will go to Nebraska Spina Bifida.
Play volleyball: The 20th annual Sertoma All-Star Volleyball Classic will begin at 7 p.m. June 18 when 25 of the area's recently graduated volleyball stars meet at McCook (Neb.) High School. Admission is $6 for age 13 and older, $4 for ages 5 to 12 and free for those younger than 5. The McCook Area Sertoma Club will use the proceeds to help with speech and hearing sponsorships.
Ride to fight cancer: The Great Plains Colon Cancer Task Force and Wear Yellow Nebraska will host the annual Rollin' to Colon awareness ride June 19. Bikers can ride 10-, 20- or 53-mile loops between Valley and Colon, Neb. All three courses will start at Douglas County West High School in Valley. The entry fee for all pre-registered participants is $30; $35 on race day. Registration and more information is at www.rollintocolon.org. The ride also will feature a post-event party. Ride proceeds will benefit the Great Plains Colon Cancer Task Force.
Books and more, please: Scottish Rite Masonic Center, 202 S. 20th St., is collecting books, DVDs, videos, records and books on tape for its used book sale June 21 to 23 to benefit its RiteCare Clinics. To donate items, bring them to the center between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays.
Tee up: The eighth annual Parkinson's Invitational Golf Tournament will be June 25 at HiMark Golf Course in Lincoln. Sign-in will start at 10:30 a.m. Tee times start at 11:30 a.m. The Parkinson's Center of Nebraska will benefit from the tournament. To participate in the golfing or to donate, call the center at 866-626-7347.
It's outta here: Quality Brands and the Omaha Storm Chasers will donate $50 each for every Chasers home run hit during June at Werner Park. The money will go to Budweiser's Here's to the Heroes program to benefit the Folds of Honor Foundation, which provides scholarships for dependents and families of fallen or disabled soldiers.
Get out the vote: Main Street Beatrice has been selected for the 2011 This Place Matters Community Challenge. The Nebraska town is one of 100 finalists competing for three cash awards to help improve its historic Carnegie Library building. To support the effort, go to www.PreservationNation.org/communitychallenge and vote for the Beatrice building. You only have to vote once. Voting will close at 4 p.m. CDT June 30. The winner will be announced July 1.
Volunteer time: More than 50 volunteers from area Kiwanis Clubs and International Kiwanis President Sylvester Neal participated Saturday in a Kids Against Hunger Project. The volunteers packaged food kits to be delivered to families in Omaha. The clubs raised more than $4,600 for the service project. Kiwanis members brought along some of the youths they support through service leadership programs, including K-Kids, Builders Club, Key Club and Circle K.
Bowling bash: More than 1,300 people participated in this year's Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands annual Bowl for Kids' Sake fundraising event at Papio Bowl. The event raised more than $235,000.
Treat bags: Girl Scout Honor Troop 5532 decorated, filled and donated 532 spring treat bags for children at the Ronald McDonald House, Camp Fire USA, Salvation Army, Food Bank for the Heartland and the Bellevue Food Pantry.
Compiled by Sue Story Truax
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