Feeding academics to students is not the only order of school business these days. Sadly, making sure the children have enough to eat is the new reality as well.That’s why the Peanut Butter & Jelly Outreach at Akron’s Mason Community Learning Center is again in full swing.The PB&J campaign, in its third year, started with giving 25 low-income students food every Friday to take home for their Saturday and Sunday breakfast, lunch and a snack.“This year, we will pack food items for 45 children,” PB&J director Joan Dorow said. “The outreach will continue with a few changes. The food will now be stored at First Congregational Church of Akron and Alpha Phi Omega, a coed service fraternity at the University of Akron, will run the weekly operations.”Interested in contributing? Checks should be made out to First Congregational Church of Akron with PB&J in the memo line and mailed to the church at 292 E. Market St., Akron, OH 44308. These foods can be dropped off at the same location: plastic jars of peanut butter or jelly, breakfast bars, canned SpaghettiOs, boxed macaroni and cheese, fruit, pudding or Jell-O cups, microwave popcorn, Pop Tarts, ramen noodles, drink boxes, small bags of chips or pretzels. For information, please contact Joan Dorow at jdorow23@gmail.com or Arienne Acuff at masonpbj@gmail.comBenefit for medical billsA spaghetti dinner fundraiser will be held Saturday at the Moose Lake Lodge at 5714 State Route 14, Ravenna Township, to assist Heather Stutzman, 25, of Atwater, with expenses associated with transplant surgery.Here’s a little of Heather’s story in her own words:“Within the last year, my health has really deteriorated. I was recently diagnosed with a paralyzed diaphragm, which has completely taken over my left lung … “I had to quit my job [as a driver for Portage Industries] which I dearly loved, because I am on oxygen 24 hours a day. I have been going to the Cleveland Clinic for months. They say there is nothing else they can do for me, that my phrenic nerve is not working which means the muscle is no longer working either.“I found a hospital in New Jersey [Jersey Shore University Medical Center] that does phrenic nerve transplants. I would be the youngest person to have one done. It’s still experimental as they have only done 25. But I would love the chance to be able to have kids of my own and live a normal life without oxygen.”Cost of the dinner is $8 for ages 13 or older; $5 for ages 6 to 12; and free for children under 6. A 50/50 drawing and raffle baskets are planned. Donations accepted. For information, please call Lisa Wilson at 330-297-1511 or Ashley Stutzman at 330-842-3184.Running for a causeBig, beautiful bouquets to Nicholas “Nick” Brady, 29, cancer survivor and veteran volunteer at Camp Quality Ohio, which provides a free, one-week summer experience for children with cancer and their siblings.This week, Nick’s aunt, Denise Snyder, is singing his praises, and rightly so:“Nicholas and some friends he made at the camp are having a 5K and a 1-mile fun run 8:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, at Akron’s Goodyear Heights Metro Park, 2077 Newton St., to raise money for the camp,” she said.“He survived skin cancer at 19 years old that was Stage 4. So he loves giving back to the kids.”A 7 a.m. sign-up is planned with a $25 registration fee; $20 online fee. For information, please call Brady at 614-787-6335; Samantha Hall at 330-715-1518; Anthony Pryor at 330-573-6440; Brad Palmer at 330-990-0101; or Shawn
Schweitzer at 330-352-5103.Tribute to Sept. 11Timothy Fitzwater and Madeline Bozzelli are chairing the HALO Foundation’s third annual Wings of Charity dinner and auction at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 8 at Guy’s Party Centre, 500 E. Waterloo Road, Akron.Keynote speaker will be David Beamer. His son, Todd Beamer, and 39 other passengers are credited with changing the course of Flight 93, which had been overpowered by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001. The plane crashed in Shanksville, Pa., instead of our nation’s capital, the intended target.Proceeds will go to fund the second phase of the memorial to these heroes. For information or a reservation, please call 330-376-9110, ext. 105.Fraternity to bicycleThe University of Akron’s chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity is sponsoring its annual bike-athon at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 10 to benefit Livestrong, the foundation that supports and inspires people affected by cancer.Starting point is the Spaghetti Warehouse, 510 S. Main St., Akron. Riders have two options — a scenic route that winds around the Ohio & Erie Canal and another through downtown Akron (the latter is deemed great for families with younger children).The fee is $15. Please register on Facebook by searching for the Livestrong Bike-A-Thon, or sign up on event day at the restaurant. For information about Livestrong, please visit http://www.Livestrong.org.Walk & RollThe Cleveland Area Pulmonary Hypertension Support Group is sponsoring its fifth annual Walk & Roll to raise funds and awareness at 11 a.m. Sept. 10 at the Wadsworth Shelter in Sand Run Metro Park, 1400 Sand Run Road, Akron.Registration is $15, or $25 for a family of up to five.You can register at http://www.firstgiving.com/
PHAssociation/WalkandRoll. Or mail to Merle Reeseman at 330 College Ave., Grove City, PA 16127; make checks payable to PHAssociation/CAPHS. And please include your shirt size. Any questions? Please call Zahi Kakish at 330-329-6163 or Reeseman at 724-458-5573 (in Pennsylvania).Memorial golf outingThe Kelly Reeves GriefCare Place at 4499 Darrow Road in Stow provides strong, innovative grief programs and volunteers who are companions to the grievers; it’s also the perfect monument to Kelly Reeves, who died Dec. 18, 2002, when she was only 16 months old.Her parents, Bob and Cathy Reeves, in their great wisdom decided to create a place where families can go to begin to heal. The GriefCare Place charges no fees, funded totally by donations and memorial gifts.One of those fundraisers — sponsored this year by Wells Trecaso Financial Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney — is the ninth annual Kelly Reeves Memorial Golf Outing on Sept. 16 at Oak Knolls Golf Course, 6700 State Route 43, Franklin Township near Kent.The $125 fee includes 18 holes of golf, cart, lunch, dinner, beverages, a gift and prizes. Hole sponsors start at $200; a hole sponsor plus a foursome is $650. Check in at 9 a.m. for the mixed scramble with 10 a.m. shotgun start. For information, please call 330-688-2056 or email creeves1019@sbcglobal.net.According to the family, the GriefCare Place, since its 1997 inception, has served more than 4,000 children, adolescents and adults from more than 58 Ohio communities.For information, please call 330-434-0110, ext. 416.Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or emailed at jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com.