Cary, N.C. -  On Saturday, March 13, Bond Park will host the Push the Pace 5K for Pediatric Brain Tumor Research.  Registration can be done on-line or at 9 am on the day of the event – $20 in advance, $25 on Saturday.  The race begins at 10 am.  Each registrant will receive a free t-shirt.

All of the proceeds from Push the Pace will be donated to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, founded in 1991.  In years past, children diagnosed with brain tumors would rarely survive to adulthood.  However, now with the right tools, researchers from this foundation are able to develop a better understanding of how to extend the lives of children.  According to the foundation, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation is the world’s largest non-governmental source of funding for childhood brain tumor research.

Vickie Maxwell contributed to this article.

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This week’s CaryCitizen is sponsored by FrantzForHouse.org.

Cary, N.C. – Mimi’s Cafe at Cary Towne Center is helping AniMall Pet Adoption and Outreach.   On Tuesday March 16th Mimi’s will be donating AniMall 15% of all sales that are accompanied by this flyer. (more…)

Photo by Don LaVange

Cary, NC – The Cary Jaycees and Spring Daze Arts & Crafts Festival presents the second annual Amateur Photo Contest [Brochure] for the community.

Everyone can participate, adults and youth.  If you love to take pictures and are not a professional paid photographer, this event is for you. All entries will be displayed during Spring Daze on April 24, 2010 at Bond Park at the Boat House. (more…)

Cary, NC – Last Thursday, The YMCA of the Triangle hosted a kickoff for The World Vision Experience: Step Into Africa, a traveling exhibition that will come to the Cary Y this Spring. The exhibit, modeled after the Holocaust Museum experience in Washington DC,  runs here May 9-16. (more…)

High School Classroom In Ugandan Village That "Share The Blessings" Helps Support

Story and photos by Donna Fitzgerald

CARY, N.C. – Arriving in Entebbe, Uganda for the 8^th time was as exciting as the first.

In 2001, my husband John and I responded to a notice in the Sunday “bulletin” at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church for a pilgrimage to Uganda with Father Emmanuel Katongole, who was at the time assisting with masses here in Cary.  He wanted to share the culture, land and people of his homeland.  We traveled with a group of 10 parishioners from Raleigh to Entebbe in July 2002.

During that trip we experienced a culture very different from our own.  We were immersed in a life in Africa very strange and wonderful to us.   We also met his eminence Emmanuel Cardinal Wamalaon that trip.  It was an honor to meet him and we have visited with him every year.  He has even come to North Carolina since.  On our first trip, we visited villages and schools as well as a game park for animal tracking, the source of the Nile River, and other local sights and landmarks.

A Very Different Life

Many of the things we did for the first time that trip, Ugandans did on a daily basis.  When we visited Father Emmanuel’s home village of Malube, we walked with the villagers to get water.  The only source was a muddy pond about a mile from the village.  Since  collecting water is the responsibility of the children and women, we walked with them, some of the villagers were seeing Muzungus (Caucasians) for the first time.

While the jerrycans looked easy to carry, once full of water they are quite heavy.  The men in our group struggled while the local young children seemed to stride uphill effortlessly.  The water was so dirty that someone commented that we wouldn’t even want to water our lawns with it.  And yet, they were using this water to bathe, drink, and wash as well as water their animals. It was something I will never forget.

Water and Education Needs and Sharing the Blessings

We also visited several schools, one of which Father Emmanuel and his siblings had attended as children.  It was in disrepair, nearly falling down and without a roof  – and yet classes were still being held.  They had scant school supplies and no books for the library.

Upon nightly reflections we decided we needed to help those who are lacking two basic needs – water and education.  We decided to start a non-profit organization and call it Share the Blessings.  Our main objectives would be to provide clean water to villages through the digging of wells and to help with the education of children.  To date Share the Blessings has funded 14 wells in villages and supports 57 children with the help of Father Joseph Kakooza.

Clean Water and Better Schools

John and I have been fortunate to have been able to make annual trips to Uganda.  In 2008 we visited all of the villages in which we had provided wells.  It is so joyful to see them pumping clean water where otherwise there would have been none.

In one village, as a show of  their gratitude, they presented us with a live chicken, eggs, sugar cane and corn.  Knowing what a sacrifice this was for them made us even more humbled.

We have also visited the schools in which Share the Blessings (STB) has supported children.  Some have graduated and have gone on to higher education, yet most are still struggling to stay in school.  It becomes difficult to attend classes when families depend on the children to help out at  home.  They must do their chores before attending class.  Chores include getting water, cleaning, gardening and helping with any animals.  Sometimes these children are very tired and hungry when they get to school.  They must then do their school work and return home to more chores.  School fees are sometimes impossible for parents to come up with and Share the Blessings has helped with keeping some of these children in school.

As part of Share the Blessings, my husband John has refurbished donated/used laptop computers and we have taken them to schools that otherwise would not have computers at all.

Our Last Trip

This past January we spent 2 weeks in Entebbe visiting friends. We stayed at Bethany House which is a retreat compound developed by Father Emmanuel Katongole.

Father Emmanuel descibes his retreat as “part guest house for travelers, and part conference and retreat center for religious leaders and practitioners, Bethany House in Entebbe Uganda is a place fully dedicated to sustaining pilgrimage as a vital practice of outreach and transformation.

Those who have heard the call to come and see Africa will I hope find Bethany House to be a space of intersection where catholic and protestant, black and white, north and south, west and east, meet to hear and learn the exciting story of God as they receive the invitation to be part of God’s new creation.”

We also visited Father Joseph Kakooza at the Cathedral in Luweero where he is assigned.  He is the overseer of the children sponsored by STB.  He is facing many challenges in his new assignment.

He is trying to get funding for a roof for the rectory as well as a new generator as the power is very unstable.  He is a tireless man and never ceases to amaze me with his energy.   Since the students were on their holiday we were unable to visit with many of them this trip but it is always a highlight.  They sing and dance and entertain us with their stories.  They are a never ending source of joy for us.

We are planning our next journey to Uganda in July.  It is has become as much a home to us as Cary.

Matt Young also contributed to this article

From a story by Nancy Caggia

Cary, NC – Sometimes, a stuffed animal can be your best friend. Especially if you’re a child in an emergency situation.

Project My Pal is a service initiative of MacNair’s 4H Club in Raleigh. About 2,000 stuffed animals will have a new life comforting children in emergencies as part of the project.

FIFTY TRASH BAGS FULL OF TOYS

Club members collected new and gently used stuffed animals to be given to comfort children in emergencies.   The members of the 4H club collected donations from their schools, communities and neighborhoods.

The Davis Drive Middle School Junior Beta Club sponsored Project My Pal and collected over 600 animals.  The 4H club spent countless hours ‘grooming’ the plush toys and individually bagging each item.  4H members collected over fifty 30-gallon trash bags filled with stuffed animals.

SHERIFF DONNIE LIKES STUFFED ANIMALS

Last week, many local emergency groups received these supplies including Sheriff Donnie Harrison, Wake Sheriff Department Fire Chief Alan Cain, Cary Fire Department and Garner and Apex EMS squads.

When presented with the stuffed animals, Sheriff Harrison said he “requires each of his cars to have a few stuffed animals ready to give away to comfort a child, so they don’t look like the bad guys when they are trying to help in an emergency situation.”

Wake Fire Chief Alan Cain thanks 4H officers: Muriel Coughlin, Kara Wilcox, Laura Barkley and Ruth Huggins. Photo by Nancy Caggia.

Fire Chief Alan Cain explained that years ago, a Girl Scout earning her Gold Award delivered similar stuffed animals and it was “quite comical to see fire trucks racing down the road with stuffed animals on the dashboard or stuffed in tight spots.”  He was quite happy to take eight huge bags to replenish his empty supply areas.

Apex’s EMS Supervisor Travis Drake said that “it was amazing how a stuffed animal can not only calm a child down, but the mother or father on the side with nothing to do.  Having them animate the stuffed animal and distract the child allows the emergency response workers to perform their necessary tasks without time consuming interruptions in often crucial situations.”

As storage space is often limited as some of the locations of the emergency agencies, Garner’s EMS Division Chief, Vance Haywood has graciously offered to distribute these stuffed animals to more children in emergency situations at local Hospitals.  Cary Chief Steven Cohen had already taken Project My Pal toys to the orphanage hospital where he is now working in Haiti.

Each of these donated stuffed animals will surely find themselves cheering up a child in need of a friend.

Lindsey Chester & Hal Goodtree also contributed to this article.

Photo from CASL website

Cary, NC – The Carolina RailHawks and CASL, the Capitol Area Soccer League, have teamed up to raise money for emergency relief in the aftermath of the big earthquake in Haiti.

$25,000 GETS THE BALL ROLLING

The joint effort started with a $25,000 donation from the Spread Your Wings foundation, an initiative of the RailHawks to promote education, health and fitness for underprivileged while providing positive role models in the community.

“The people of Haiti have suffered a horrific tragedy,” said RailHawks President Brian Wellman. “CASL and the RailHawks are very focused community minded organizations, and in times such as this it is our responsibility to help as much as possible.”

CLINIC POSTPONED

CASL and the RailHawks had been planning a soccer clinic to help raise money for Haitian relief. The clinic had been scheduled for Saturday, February 6 but was postponed due to the snow.

Stay tuned to CaryCitizen for an announcement about the rescheduled date.

“I think it’s great the RailHawks will offer this clinic to kids and that all the proceeds will go to the American Red Cross through CASL’s collection process,” said CASL CEO Charlie Slagle. “I recommend that everyone take advantage if at all possible.”

Anyone interested in participating should contact the Carolina RailHawks front office at 919-859-5425.

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This week’s news on CaryCitizen is sponsored by Goodtree & Co Digital Arts.

Cary, NC –  The Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood announces its third Lucy’s Book Club topic, “Imagine that!”  The list of 10 recommended books for children and one for parents were chosen by a panel of Lucy Daniels Center educators and Wake County librarians for their excellence in supporting young children’s developing imaginations.

Research shows that the capacity to imagine is a necessary component for the development of higher thinking and problem solving. Books chosen by the panel such as “Not a Stick” by Antoinette Portis and “It Looked Like Spilt Milk” by Charles Shaw, inspire children’s creative thinking and encourage looking at everyday surroundings from different perspectives. With an imaginative mind, the possibilities are endless. Children will enjoy reading these books again and again.

The Lucy’s Book Club (LBC) is a free, community outreach program for Wake County children ages birth to six and their parents. LBC is designed to support healthy social and emotional growth for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners. All books chosen for the bookmark/booklist are readily available in Wake County libraries, bookstores, and online.  Three of the titles are also available in Spanish.

Bookmark displays with free, oversized bookmarks listing the current book selections can be found in more than 200 locations including Wake County libraries, preschools, childcare centers, pediatricians’ offices, and bookstores, or downloaded online from www.lucysbookclub.org. Parents can visit the website, funded by the Cisco Foundation, to sign their children up for free book club membership, receive a bimonthly blog, and access a myriad of additional resources supporting each Lucy’s Book Club topic.

Kids donating stuff for Haiti at the alternate drop off on Monday. Photo by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – Local Rotary clubs, in conjunction with Rotary International, have arranged for six small planes (Beechcraft Barons) to deliver emergency supplies to rural areas of Haiti where first responder resources are not available.

These planes will land on small remote airstrips and reach people who would otherwise depend on Port au Prince for resources which are no longer available.

The following items are needed:

• Over the counter pain relievers
• Medicated skin lotions
• Bandages, sterile gauze and pads
• Wound care items/medical supplies
• Water purification tablets or devices (available from camping stores like REI)
• Non-bulky feminine supplies (ultra thin pads)
• Light, non-bulky blankets (fleece material cut into 6ʼ lengths is a good option)

WHERE TO DONATE

Donations will be accepted at the Handmade for Haiti store in Cary at 1883 Lake Pine Drive (just north of Hwy. 64 next to Courtneyʼs Restaurant) during the following hours:

12pm – 2pm
Friday, Jan. 22nd
Saturday, Jan 23rd

ALTERNATE DROP OFF

Outside retail hours, donations may be placed in the orange plastic bin at 302 Bordeaux Lane in the MacGregor West subdivision.

For more info, visit Rotary District 7710.

Editor’s Note: This is the inaugural post for our coverage of non-profit news. You’ll find this and subsequent stories under the Community tab.

Cary, NC – Interact, a non-profit agency that provides safety, support, and awareness to victims and survivors of domestic violence and rape/sexual assault, is hosting a benefit this Thursday at Rally Point.

The fun starts at 6 PM with a wine tasting. Music by A Fifth of Blues at 8 PM.

$10 at the door. All proceeds go to Interact of Wake County.

Rally Point
1837 North Harrison Avenue
Cary, NC 27513-2408
(919) 678-1088