Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA) officials are chest-out proud of the generosity Akron's Chris Bryant is showing families living in Joy Park, Mohawk and Wilbeth Arlington homes.

The 23-year-old Bryant, who was vaulted into national celebrity after he was featured by Beacon Journal staff writer Jim Carney in a series of stories about his car-jumping abilities — has asked Nike to direct $10,000 of his earnings to provide groceries and Wal-Mart gift cards to 200 AMHA families.

''Chris will not only distribute groceries and gift cards to the families, but will also entertain the crowd by demonstrating his car-jumping talents,'' Christine C. Yuhasz, AMHA's community relations director, said of the event Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Firestone Park Recreation Center.

Bryant, who has starred in Nike commercials, also has appeared on Ellen DeGeneres' show and others.

Books for Africa

A Largely Literary Evening dinner and play fundraiser in support of Copley Township residents Hilda and Kurt Bromley's Books for Africa Library Project is set for 5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at the St. Bernard Catholic Church social hall in downtown Akron.

The event, hosted by the Largely Literary Theater Company, will feature a program of Mark Twain sketches and poems by Robert Louis Stevenson. Admission is free but donations are encouraged to support the Bromleys in their effort to establish libraries in Ghana and Liberia.

For information, please call 330-666-6816.

In the meantime, the Bromleys would like to remind you of a Mark Twain quote:

''When I am king, they shall not have bread and shelter only, but also . . . books, for a full belly is little worth where the mind is starved.''

Barberton spruces up

Neighborhood Conservation Services (NCS) of Barberton is accepting applications through June 4 from Barberton residents for exterior house paint jobs and minor exterior repairs.

''To date, we have completed 130 homes and our goal will be this year to complete another eight to 10 homes, depending on the applicants,'' said Shelly Leach, NCS special programs manager.

''We have had over 200 volunteers yearly. We meet at Decker Park (on event day, July 26) at the corner of Fifth and Brady Avenue at 8 a.m. for assignments, gear pickup and a continental breakfast. We also provide a luncheon and raffle for our volunteers back at the park at 12:30 p.m. that day.''

Sponsors, paint and tool donors and volunteers are needed. For information, call Leach at 330-753-8500.

Memorial concert

A benefit concert celebrating the life of Mikal Davis is set for Sunday at Vicki's, 1955 Triplett Blvd., Akron. Doors open at 4 p.m.

Mikal, a musician and vocalist who worked at the Guitar Center in Fairlawn, — died March 6 from injuries suffered in an auto accident. He was 26.

Mikal also was a praise and worship leader in his church.

Proceeds will help his family with his funeral expenses.

Six bands are poised to play. Cover charge is $3.

Food and raffle items are still needed. For information, please call Crystal Stewart at 330-690-3838.

Mother's Day luncheon

Jennifer Hanselman of
Cuyahoga Falls — mother of Ohio's first and only sextuplets — will be the featured speaker at Pregnancy Care of Summit County's Mother's Day luncheon at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 3, at St. Joseph's Family Center, 610 W. Exchange St., Akron.

Hanselman and her husband, Keith, became parents of Lucy, Sophia, Isabella, Kyle, Logan and Alex on Feb. 26, 2004. They also have a 6-year-old, Connor.

Pregnancy Care is a nonprofit agency providing classes, supplies and emotional support for pregnant women and their families.

Buffet luncheon tickets are $25 and available by calling 330-253-4071. Reservations are a must. Dessert, door prizes and a silent auction are also on the menu.

Raffle, dinner

Todaro's Party Center at 1820 Akron-Peninsula Road, Akron, will be the setting for Racing to Save Lives, a benefit dinner and reverse raffle for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 3. Sponsor is Team in Training.

Event planner Louis J. Berrodin III is training to participate in an endurance event, a 100-mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe on June 1, to raise funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma and myeloma. He's doing so in memory of his father, Louis J. Berrodin Jr., and friends Brian P. Frank, David A. DiLido and John W. Zachardy.

Cost of the May 3 event is $75 for dinner and reverse raffle; $50, dinner only; and $20, children. For information, please call 330-352-1425.

Reverse raffle prize is $1,500.

Retired teacher to ride

Also riding around Lake Tahoe will be Akron's Liedrith Heid, who will participate in her fourth Team in Training bicycle century ride to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

''I'm a retired public schoolteacher, working as a part-time instructor in the College of Education at the University of Akron,'' Heid writes.

''I became involved with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as a neighborhood campaign fundraiser quite a few years ago. (When I was) a fifth-grade teacher, two of my students were diagnosed with leukemia in the late '70s; one didn't make it to the eighth grade and the other died before he graduated from high school. . . . After I retired, I wanted to step up my involvement with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, so I looked into the Team in Training program.''

And then, wonder of all wonders, her husband gave her a bicycle as a retirement gift and she's been in training since November 2005.

To help the cause, Heid is hosting a fundraiser from 7 p.m. to midnight Sunday at Northside, 111 N. Main St., Akron. Featured will be four local bands who are donating their talents: Houseguest, Zach, Brian Straw and Trouble Books. No cover, but donations are requested.

Heid will be riding in honor of local resident Jill Reyes, who is battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Her team consists of about 45 cyclists from all over northern Ohio.

Parade with a cause

Local Boy Scouts have carved out a huge role in a Memorial Day parade in Cuyahoga Falls.

Scouts will be on hand along the parade route to collect care-package items for the United Service Organization USO) of Northeast Ohio to send to troops serving overseas.

''Currently, there is a much-needed demand for canned goods for the care packages,'' writes Bob Norman, a local spokesman for the effort.

''Any nonperishable items can be donated. A full list of acceptable items can be found at www.usocleveland.org.''

By the way, the parade steps off at 9 a.m. May 26 at the State Road shopping plaza.

If you're interested in donating care packages before or after the parade, please call Norman at 330-928-6542.