Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Serving Your Community

Benefits

* COWBOY CHRISTMAS BALL -- St. Jude's Ranch for Children is holding its third annual Cowboy Christmas Ball Thursday to provide funding for abused, abandoned and neglected children. St. Jude's Ranch will be honoring Claudine Williams, Lorraine and Blackie Hunt, Joyce and Russ Avery and Delis Sartini for their time and financial support. Ty Murray, winner of seven rodeo championships will be the emcee. Tickets are $150, which include a cocktail hour at 6 p.m., a chuckwagon dinner at 7:30 p.m., a live auction, a silent auction, a raffle and a program of country music entertainment. For tickets, call Milli Clark, 294-7138.

* FESTIVAL OF TREES & LIGHTS -- The ninth annual Festival of Trees and Lights to benefit the Down Syndrome Organization will be at the Fashion Show Mall through Saturday. Highlights include Christmas trees, wreaths, centerpieces, gingerbread creations and Hanukkah displays. The Black-Tie Gala will be Sunday. This is the final night to bid on the trees and the only opportunity for purchasing. The People's Choice Award for outstanding tree will be Monday. For more information, call 648-1414.

* RONALD MCDONALD AT DILLARD'S -- Dillard's is selling holiday doublepack CDs for $9 and cassettes for $7 through Dec. 24 to benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Greater Las Vegas. The Ronald McDonald House, under construction at Sahara and Decatur, provides a home-away-from-home for the families of seriously ill children receiving treatment at nearby hospitals.

Getting results

* BOULEVARD MALL DONATION -- The Boulevard Mall recently donated $1,000 to Sunrise Children's Hospital Foundation in honor of the many educational programs the organization offers to improve the lives of children in Southern Nevada. The donation was made at the dedication of the Boulevard's new security podium, which included comments by Gov. Bob Miller and Clark County Undersheriff Richard Winget. The dedication also featured the introduction of the Boulevard's Code Adam and Merchant Watch programs.

* ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION CONTRIBUTION -- The Las Vegas branch of the Arthritis Foundation is the recipient of a $25,000 contribution from the Lincy Foundation. The gift will assist the Arthritis Foundation in expanding its programs from 10 weekly aquatic exercise programs to include a People With Arthritis Can Exercise program. The local branch also provides information on the various forms of arthritis, which is the umbrella term for more than 100 rheumatic diseases.

* SHADE TREE GRANT -- Citibank Nevada recently provided a $1,000 grant to The Shade Tree, an emergency shelter for homeless women and children. The grant, which was sponsored by the bank's Park Branch location, will be used to train the staff in order to improve their effectiveness in working with the homeless.

* TELEDEX HELPS KIDS -- The Teledex Corp. recently donated $2,500 to the Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas. In a ceremony at the Lied Memorial Unit, the largest Boys & Girls Club in America, Teledex area sales manager Greg Varey presented the check to executive director Mike Meyer and the children of the club. According to Meyer, two out of three club alumni go on to careers as professionals, managers, proprietors or skilled workers, earning 39 percent more than the national average. Eighty-seven percent graduate from high school, 21 percent over the national average.

* OPERATION SCHOOL BELL DONATION -- Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center donated $5,000 to Operation School Bell to purchase clothing, coats, school supplies and books for at-risk children in Clark County. Operation School Bell is a nonprofit program supported by volunteers of the Assistance League of Las Vegas. Its goal is to help students, kindergarten through ninth grade, who don't come to school because they lack appropriate supplies due to family financial needs, homelessness or loss of clothing to fire. The program seeks to enhance these students' self-esteem and to encourage school attendance.

* NLV NEIGHBORHOOD DONATION -- Norwest Bank Nevada recently presented a $25,000 donation to North Las Vegas Neighborhood Housing Services, a nonprofit housing corporation that operates in mature neighborhoods adjacent to the North Las Vegas Downtown Redevelopment Area. The North Las Vegas Neighborhood Housing Services is a nonprofit partnership between the City of North Las Vegas, the city's business community and its residents, which provides payment assistance to first-time homebuyers throughout the city, rehabilitates housing in its target neighborhoods and owns and manages multi-family properties in its target neighborhoods. Kirk Clausen, president of Norwest Bank said the donation was made as part of the bank's commitment to local community development.

Honors

* RABBI AKSELRAD HONORED -- Members of Congregation Ner Tamid will honor Rabbi Sanford Akselrad in a double celebration on Jan. 10. This is the rabbi's 13th year in the rabbinate, and since that is the customary time for the Jewish tradition of Bar Mitzvah, his years in the pulpit will be marked by a special Bar Mitzvah program. This year is also Rabbi Akselrad's 10th year as the spiritual leader at Congregation Ner Tamid, the second reason for the festivities. During this period, the membership has grown from less than 100 families to more than 600. For more information, call Monty Willey, executive director of Congregation Ner Tamid, 733-6292.

Special needs

* SAVE A SENIOR'S HOLIDAY -- The first SASH project, Save a Senior's Holiday, is seeking donations for the Division for Aging Services to fill food baskets for homebound, elderly citizens in the Las Vegas community. The baskets will contain ham, canned fruits and vegetables, bread, pasta or rice, powdered milk, dessert, toiletries, a small gift and a greeting card. If you would like to donate any of these items you may call 486-3545 for a pickup or bring them to Howard Cannon Center, 340 N. 11th St., Suite 201. Monetary donations may be deposited to Bank of America Account 500248786.

* HOLIDAY FOOD BASKET -- Soroptimist International of Greater Las Vegas is seeking contributions for its annual Holiday Gift & Food Basket project. The baskets will be distributed to needy seniors and families who are without a support system. A $30 donation provides a basket with turkey, canned and packaged foods which creates several full meals. In addition, requested items such as socks or sweaters for seniors and gifts or gift certificates for children are needed. Greeting cards, stamps, soaps, perfume and hard candies are needed for the baskets, also. If you wish to make a donation, call 362-7666.

* CHRISTMAS TREE SALE -- The Henderson Boys and Girls Club will be selling tax-deductible Christmas trees and Christmas singing telegrams at the corner of Sunset and Marks across from Sunset Station from noon-8 p.m. through Dec. 22. The items will benefit the Sunrise Keystone Program at the Henderson Boys and Girls Club, which is a leadership group to help teenagers.

* GOODWILL DONATION CENTERS -- Mountain View Hospital is sponsoring an Attended Donation Center site for Goodwill Industries of Southern Nevada Inc. An ADC trailer in the hospital parking lot accepts tax-deductible donations from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. seven days a week. Other ADC locations are in the parking lots of Wal-Mart at Charleston and Nellis, Sam's Club at Spring Mountain and Rainbow and Cheyenne Self Storage at Cheyenne and Rampart. Through the sale of donated items, Goodwill Industries provides training, employment and job placement services for people with disabilities and other special needs. Goodwill stores are located at 31 N. Nellis Blvd., 3461 Boulder Highway and 2560 Duneville St. and also serve as donations centers during store hours. For more information, call 597-1107.

* FREE PIZZA -- mamma ilardo's Pizzeria, 2101 N. Rainbow Blvd., will be collecting Christmas ornaments and art supplies for its first "A child's gift is their imagination" promotion to benefit Child Haven. Children will receive a free slice of pizza through Dec. 20 for bringing in any art supply and ornament, new or used and at the conclusion there will be a drawing for an art package, which includes classes and supplies donated by Art Classes for Kids. During the week of Christmas, the art supplies and the Christmas tree, donated by Plant World, will be delivered to Child Haven, which provides temporary housing and treatment for abused, neglected and abandoned children ages 3 to 18. For more information, call Harvey Blankfeld or Amy Blossom, 647-4992.

* FANTASY FLIGHT -- Scenic Airlines and the Variety Club of Southern Nevada will stage a special day for special children on Dec. 20. One thousand children from various organizations, will be taken on a Fantasy Flight over Las Vegas. Scenic Airlines will devote 25 aircraft, buses and their staff to host the day, which will include Fantasy Flights from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Christmas party lunch, Santa at the North Las Vegas Airport, a gift for every child from Lance Burton, cartoon characters from Universal Studies, clowns, entertainment and more. To be a part of this occasion, call Barry Ferber, 638-3234 or Pauline McFetridge, 383-8466.

* BIKES FOR TIKES -- The Indian Springs Casino is calling for all bikers to ride for needy children. All clubs and individuals are invited. The casino is hosting its second annual Bikes for Tikes toy drive, at noon on Saturday. The ride will benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas and Echoes of Faith Community Church of Indian Springs who will distribute the toys to needy families. Santa and his elves, entertainment and food and beverages will be on hand at noon to greet and thank each rider who brings a toy. In the event of foul weather, the event will be held over one day to Dec. 14. Indian Springs Casino is 32 miles north of the Santa Fe hotel-casino on U.S. 95. The car pool lot at U.S 95 and Rome, just north of the Santa Fe will be a rally point for those who wish to ride together as a group. For more information, call 384-7449.

* TOYS FOR TOTS -- Ultrazone, 2555 S. Maryland Parkway, is participating in the annual Toys for Tots charity. People may donate a new, unwrapped toy at the arena during regular business hours through Dec. 19, and receive a free game of laser tag and an entry card to win a free birthday party at Ultrazone. The toys will be distributed to needy children for Christmas. For more information, call Kelcey West, 734-3617.

* HOLIDAY CHEER -- The management and employees at Euphoria Salons will try to make the holidays a little brighter by donating free haircuts to the women and children at Shade Tree Shelter and the children at Child Haven. They are also accepting donations at Euphoria Salon and Day Spa, 2811 Green Valley Parkway, and Euphoria at Flamingo, 2585 E. Flamingo Road, Suite 6 and will deliver the gifts to the shelters. Donations for Child Haven will be accepted through Saturday and donations for Shade Tree Shelter will be accepted through Dec. 21. Shade Tree is in need of lice shampoo, CAT bus tokens, 33-gallon trash bags, coffee, paper cups and plastic spoons, postage stamps, paper towels, laundry detergent, tissues, kids snack food, white socks and large baby diapers. Child Haven is in need of computer software for any age, new undergarments including socks and toys and toys for teenagers who usually get overlooked during this season. Child Haven asks to help with the older children by donating walkmans, radios, wallets or cologne.

Volunteers

* MAGICAL FOREST -- Volunteers are needed for the Opportunity Village Magical Forest through Dec. 28. More than 50 volunteers per night are needed to assist children with train rides, serve hot chocolate and cookies, appear as costumed characters (including Santa) and a variety of other fun jobs. All proceeds go to programs for people with mental retardation. Opportunity Village would like local businesses to encourage its employees to sign up for an evening in the Magical Forest. For more information or to reserve a night for your company, call 259-3741.

archive