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By Jewell Cardwell
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009
Talk about making a herculean difference in the life of this community.
WITAN (Women in Touch with Akron's Needs), an exceptional women's group with charity in their hearts, donated more than 10,000 volunteer hours to the community last year.
Recently it awarded the following grants to local charities:
• Health Education Center of Akron Inc., Morley Health Center — $600 for a human skeleton to be used in its work with local schools.
• Akron Public Schools, Project Rise — $600 for books to teach awareness of homelessness.
• Community Habilitation Services Inc. — $600 for retractable wheelchair kits.
• Child Guidance & Family Solutions, Project Hope — $555 for books, workbooks and booklets.
• Christ Child Society of Akron — $5,000 to support the Clothing Center Project for school uniforms.
• Good Samaritan Hunger Center — $5,000 for milk and eggs for one year.
• Mental Health America of Summit County — $5,000 to support the Adolescent Suicide Prevention Program.
• Mobile Meals Inc. — $4,000 for infant and child medically prescribed supplements.
• OPEN M Free Clinic — $10,000 to support medications for the pharmacy.
• Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet — $2,840 for the Reach Out and Dance project.
• Children's Concert Society — $250 as an ongoing grant to support the Young Scholastic Composer's WITAN Award.
Deadlines for WITAN's 2009/2010 grant year are Oct. 31 for requests less than $600; Nov. 30 for grants more than $600. For more information, please go to http://www.witaninfo.org.
WITAN has given in excess of $1.2 million in grants and allocations to nonprofits and charities in its 65 years of existence.
Rummage sale
Faith Lutheran Church at 2726 W. Market St., Fairlawn, will be site of a huge benefit rummage sale 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
The bounty for the sale — in its 19th year — includes men's, women's, children's and infants' clothing; bedding; housewares; furniture; electronics; books; and music. Also on the menu is a snack and bake shop.
''All money goes to outreach,'' church member Pat Mihelis said. ''Money from the Friday evening preview party [for friends and family only] will go to area food banks and food pantries. Proceeds from Saturday's sale will go to the American Red Cross, Boy Scouts and different nonprofits
like St. Stephens Bridge Street Ministries and various ministries in the church.''
Veterans dinner
The Rhine River VFW Post No. 3618 and its Ladies Auxiliary are sponsoring a dinner 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and a 7 p.m. program for military veterans Nov. 11, Veterans Day, at 1474 Copley Road, Akron.
Dinner will be served to all veterans showing proof of service. For more information, please call 330-376-1583.
Viva La Panza
The 71st annual Viva La Panza (Long Live the Belly), hosted by the Italian-American Professional & Businessmen's Club of Akron and planned for today, is a sellout with more than 700 tickets out the door.
Even so, there's a rich history worth sharing.
''What started out in 1938 as a small gathering of Italians in the back room of Joseph Licitri's Belt Line Grocery Store on Baird Street in Akron has grown into a gala event that since 1970 — when the Italian-American Professional & Businessmen's Club took over as host — has raised more than $225,000 for scholarships,'' said Ray Yannucci, a longtime member.
''Annually, four $2,500 scholarships are awarded for a student going to any college; one $1,500 scholarship is given to an arts major going to the University of Akron and one $1,500 scholarship to a UA teaching major to teach in Italy.''
Comedy benefit
A serious mission will be on the table when the Funny Stop Comedy Club, 1767 State Road, Cuyahoga Falls, hosts a special event at 7 p.m. Nov. 9.
Local comedians and musicians will come together for the second annual Friends of the Folkatorium Folk-n-Comedy benefit, with all proceeds going to Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank's Harvest for Hunger campaign.
Tickets for the program, co-sponsored by the Summit County Songwriters Circle, are $5 at the door or by calling 330-923-4700.
Students raise money
Our Lady of the Elms elementary and high school students, staff and their families recently raised $13,000 to help build a girls' school in Pakistan.
Additionally, the 374 students (K-12) brought in coins and dollars, which FirstMerit Bank counted.
Drum roll, please. The bank's tally for the all-girl school's Peace Plus program, was $3,435.10, and additional donations brought that number to $4,063.90, said Nancy McGrath, Elms alum and head of the program. So the grand total for the entire effort came to $17,063.90.
The Elms will partner with another U.S. school or business to build the school in Pakistan at a cost of $50,000, which also covers teaching staff and supplies for three to five years.
Scholarships available
An eager-to-help Christy Ramsey, pastor of Goodyear Heights Presbyterian Church in Akron, ''wants to help parents struggling to work and keep their children safe.
''So, in partnership with Color Our Rainbow Academy we are offering partial scholarships for their after-school program at Seiberling [Elementary] School or here at our site.
''We currently have $6,300 dedicated to the scholarships. We hope to make it go far, by offering partial scholarships especially to those who fail to qualify for governmental help . . . We're still looking for applicants.''
For more information, please call 330-733-4212.
Good Turn Day
Major kudos to area Boy and Girl Scouts who are poised to team up with Goodwill Industries sites to participate in Good Turn Day 2009 — Saturday, Nov. 7.
Scouts will be collecting used clothing, books, housewares and other donated items or volunteering time at a donation site.
Patches lauding them for their efforts will be provided.
Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com.
Talk about making a herculean difference in the life of this community.
Get the full article here.
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