Seattle firefighters will be collecting donations during their annual “Fill the Boot” drive all over Seattle, as well as at Queen Anne ‘caffeine corner’ (the intersection of Queen Anne Ave N and Boston), today benefiting Jerry’s Kids, a fundraiser by the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

Queen Anne’s firefighters say they will be at caffeine corner for most of the day—they’re still on call, but will be collecting donations on and off between their regular duties.

“According to MDA, the Fill-the-Boot campaign has raised over $435 million nationally for those affected by muscle-deteriorating diseases. Last year, the Seattle Fire Department was the number-one department in Washington State, contributing over $105,000 to MDA’s Fill-the-Boot campaign,” SFD wrote on its Facebook page.

For more information on MDA and the work it does to fight muscular disease, check out the organization’s website.

Dick’s Drive-In has been running its Change4Charity program at its five Seattle-area locations since 1998, collecting extra change from customers for a variety of local and international causes. Last week the local restaurant chain announced that the program passed the half-million dollar mark, raising over $500,000 collectively between all locations to support Seattle area homeless shelters and disaster relief efforts.

“Those little change boxes have added up to big donations,” Dick’s Drive-In vice president Jim Spady said in a statement. “We want to thank each and every customer who has taken the time to drop their extra burger change into the Change4Charity boxes.”

In the 13 years since the Change4Charity program began, donations have gone toward a number charities, including Compass Housing, Family Support Network, Fare Start, First Place, Mary’s Place, ROOTS, Saint Martin de Porres Shelter, and Seattle Night Watch.

Through the program special donations have also been made to a number of disaster relief efforts. Top months for giving through Change4Charity have included Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in September 2005, relief efforts following the Haitian earthquake in January and February 2010, and aid for those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March of this year–the single largest month in donations, in which over $21,000 was raised and directed to Japan through the Seattle Red Cross and World Vision in Federal Way.

The Second Annual StandUp For Kids Charity Chowdown is happening this Wednesday, July 13 from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. at McMenamins Queen Anne, located at 200 Roy Street.

StandUp For Kids is a 100 percent donation-driven, all-volunteer-run non-profit organization that works to help homeless and at-risk youth in cities across the country. McMenamin’s hosted the first Charity Chowdown with the Seattle chapter of StandUp last year, with huge success – the inaugural event raised $2,500 from raffle and McMenamins contributions. This year the group hopes to raise $3,500. To help reach this goal, McMenamins will be donating 50 percent of all proceeds from food and beverage sales during the event to StandUp For Kids – Seattle.

Event information:

Along with the great food and drinks, there will also be a lot of raffle prizes to be won! StandUp For Kids – Seattle has partnered with several businesses, including our biggest supporters, Rosemary for Remembrance Spa and Red Mango, to provide LOTS of great raffle prizes for fans of StandUp for Kids – Seattle.

This year, we have an event goal of raising $3,500. The proceeds from raffle ticket sales will go towards the outreach efforts of StandUp For Kids – Seattle and the administrative costs that come with running a non-profit. StandUp For Kids – Seattle is a 100% donation-driven, all-volunteer run non-profit organization.

In addition to Rosemary for Remembrance Spa and Red Mango, we have fun and exciting prizes donated by the following businesses: Lindsey Lee Photography, Gregg’s Cycles, Woodland Park Zoo, Ride the Ducks, Groupon and Pandora Radio.

Bonus chances to win prizes go out to everyone who comes out to the event! Yup, the prize wheel is back!! Big thanks go out to FunRent.com for donating the use of the prize wheel for a second year in a row!

Raffle prize winners will also have a chance to win prizes donated by individual donors, which include manicure and spa gift certificates and StandUp For Kids – Seattle swag!

Five dollars gets you six raffle tickets, which can be purchased in advance through Brown Paper Tickets here. Check out scenes from last year’s StandUp For Kids Charity Chowdown at the Seattle chapter’s Facebook page.

Good thing there’s decent weather on the horizon because this weekend is packed with fun outdoor events in and around Queen Anne. There are not just one, but two opportunities to run through the neighborhood – one for charity, the other for kicks. Plus Seattle’s biggest outdoor yoga event, and the annual Queen Anne Sidewalk Sale. Check out Queen Anne’s weekend calendar:

Saturday, July 9

• Crown of Queen Anne Fun Run – Help support the Queen Anne Helpline by participating in the annual QA Fun Run. The 5k (3.3 mile) run/walk of beautiful streets on Queen Anne hill kicks off at 8 a.m. (walkers) and 8:20 a.m. (runners). If you haven’t yet registered, you may do so between 6:45 and 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. Day of registration is $35. Participants should gather at the Queen Anne Lutheran Church, located at 2400 8th Ave West. The Fun Run/walk will start at 5th and Halladay, and finish at Coe Elementary School. After the run/walk participants should reassemble at the Queen Anne Lutheran Church for awards, coffee, water, snacks and random drawings for prizes. Details here.
• 3rd Annual Yoga for Hope Event – Join hundreds of other yogis at the International Fountain North Lawn at Seattle Center for the city’s annual outdoor yoga event for charity: Yoga for Hope is an outdoor yoga event for yoga beginners and experts alike to bring awareness to the benefits of yoga practice for patients with life-threatening illnesses. Four of Seattle’s top yoga instructors will lead hundreds of participants in a two-hour class at the Seattle Center. The proceeds from the event will benefit research, treatment and education programs at City of Hope, aiding the treatment and research center’s efforts to expand awareness of the importance of the mind-body-spirit connection when battling cancer, diabetes or HIV/AIDS. The Yoga for Hope event was born out of City of Hope’s efforts to expand awareness of the importance of the mind-body-spirit connection and the hospital’s unique approach to utilizing complimentary and integrative therapies such as yoga and meditation in the patient treatment programs. Instructors from Queen Anne’s own Haute Yoga will be joining other teachers at the event this year. Registration $35 if done online by midnight tonight (register here), or $45 day of. Registration and vendor booths open at 9 a.m., with classes taking place between 10:30 a.m. and noon. Details here.
  
• 2nd Annual Queen Anne Running of the Bulls – In case walking/running it out over 3.3 miles of Queen Anne streets during the Fun Run isn’t enough, Queen Anne’s own self-proclaimed “division of the Queen Anne mafia,” The Comstock Commission, is putting on the second neighborhood Running of the Bulls on the very same day. Swing by Paragon Bar & Grill at 1 p.m. to join in the fun or just watch it unfold. And don’t forget to wear the Comstock uniform–white shirts and pants, a red scarf and “fast shoes”. Details here.
• Queen Anne Sidewalk Sale – If you feel like shopping in the sunshine, don’t miss Queen Anne’s annual summer Sidewalk Sale, which will be happening all day at stores up and down Queen Anne Ave N. We don’t have a full list of participating vendors, but many stores have planned sales and special events in years past. Many vendors also often extend the sales for the whole weekend, so if you can’t make it Saturday, you’ll have another chance on Sunday, July 9. Just look for balloons and big crowds!

Know of more events happening on the hill this weekend? Email us at tips@queenanneview.com or comment below and we’ll add the event to our weekend calendar.

Tickets are now available for the P-Patch Trust’s annual Chef in the Garden event on Wednesday, July 13 at 6 p.m. Held at the Interbay P-Patch (2451 15^th Ave W), the evening will feature renowned Seattle chef Tom Douglas preparing an array of dishes that emphasize locally sourced, garden-fresh ingredients. Some of the ingredients for the dishes will come from P-Patch community gardens and the courses will be paired with Northwest wines. There will also be food and garden-related silent auction items.

The Chef in the Garden event, which is limited to 100 diners, is the Trust’s primary fund-raising effort. All-inclusive tickets are $119. They can be purchased online. Hurry because last year’s event sold out well in advance.

The P-Patch Trust is a nonprofit organization that works to acquire, build and protect community gardens in Seattle’s neighborhoods. For more details visit the Trust’s website or call 425-329-1601.

The past week has been building up to Seattle PrideFest here in the Emerald City, despite the question of whether or not the Space Needle will be flying Pride’s rainbow flag proudly on Sunday, and the ongoing debate surrounding it.

As of 12:30 p.m. Friday the Space Needle was just a little over $12,000 shy of its $50,000 fundraising goal, which if met, will mean the Pride flag will once again fly atop the Needle after leading the Pride Parade to PrideFest at Seattle Center Sunday. So far $37,610.27 has been raised, which will go toward supporting four local charities: The Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) Scholarship Program, Lambda Legal, It Gets Better for the Trevor Project and Mary’s Place, a homeless shelter for women and children.

But whether or not the Needle sports the rainbow flag at this year’s PrideFest, the city and Seattle Center will be full of Pride all weekend long. Interested in catching some fun Pride events this weekend? Check out the highlights:

• Armistead Maupin reading at Seattle Public Library – Saturday, June 25 3 to 4:30 p.m.
  PrideFest and Seattle Public Library welcome best-selling author Armistead Maupin for a special Pride book reading from his latest novel, Maryann in Autumn, and a conversation on the very gay world of Tales of the City. Saturday, June 25 3-4:30pm, with book signing afterwards. Entry is free but space is limited. FREE TICKETS AVAILABLE JUNE 1 at BrownPaperTickets for Book Reading.
• Concert for Equality at Seattle Center – Saturday, June 25 6 p.m.
  A ticketed concert with national talent, and 100% of net proceeds to benefit Equal Rights Washington. At the Mural Amphitheatre at Seattle Center. Crystal Bowersox, Thelma Houston, BETTY. An amazing show with world-class artists! GET TICKETS AND MORE INFO
• Annual Red Pride Party – Satuday, June 25 9 p.m. – 5 a.m.
  Our annual RED Party has been the party destination for men every Pride, this year with Seattle favorite DJ Brian Gorr, and this year we’re adding a women’s party to our roster with Spinderella at Baltic Room. This is a big year and we can’t wait to roll out all the fun. GET MORE INFO – TICKETS ON SALE NOW
• PridePrade – Sunday, June 26 11 a.m.
  The Downtown Pride Parade is a spectacle to behold! It runs along 4th Avenue to the Seattle Center, and is produced by Seattle Out and Proud. Full info at seattlepride.org.
• Seattle PrideFest at Seattle Center – Sunday, June 26 12 to 8 p.m.
  The largest free pride festival in the country! Noon-8pm, 3 stages, national and local artists, non-profits, beer gardens, fun.

See the full PrideFest schedule here. For more information on Seattle Pride, check out Seattle Out & Proud.

Today is your chance to donate to Queen Anne charities and have your money go further.

The Seattle Foundation is hosting the “GiveBIG” challenge from 7 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. to support a long list of charities around town, a great many of which are based right here in Queen Anne, including the American Cancer Society – Great West Division, ArtsFund, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Forgotten Children’s Fund, Friends of KEXP, GreenStage, Hilltop Children’s Center, KCTS Television, Northwest Folklife, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pacific Science Center, Pottery Northwest, Queen Anne Helpline, Seattle Center Foundation, Seattle Children’s Home, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, SIFF, Susan G. Komen for the Cure Puget Sound Affiliate, Whim W’Him and more.

The money donated to charities through GiveBIG will be “stretched” by $500,000. Here is how the “stretch pool” and match works:

Credit card donations made during this time period will be counted as GiveBIG donations and used to calculate distribution of the stretch pool. The amount of a nonprofit organization’s share of the stretch pool will be based on the percentage of donations the nonprofit receives of the total online contributions made through www.seattlefoundation.org on June 23. In other words, distribution of the stretch pool will be pro-rated. If X organization receives 1% of the donations through our site on GiveBIG, they will receive 1% of the stretch pool dollars.

Here is the long list of charities that are participating. There will also be a Golden Ticket given away every hour. Donors will be chosen at random to have more money donated to the charity they chose to support. Most tickets are worth $1,000 but the one-time extra special Golden Ticket is worth $5,000.

The second annual Spoke & Food bicycle friendly fundraising event is coming up next week, on Tuesday, June 28. Heather Slettebak, who founded the event with her husband, sent us this information:

Billed as “an evening of dining and bikes”, the event will take place in 13+ different Seattle area neighborhoods. The event asks people to bicycle to (and from) one of the “host” restaurants on the night of the event. This community event was launched last year as a way to influence the culture of Seattle, to show how easy and fun bicycling to and from dinner is and to raise money for a well-deserving Seattle area non-profit. A new non-profit beneficiary is selected each year. This year’s event will benefit the Children’s Garden Education program at Seattle Tilth where as last year’s event benefited the Lettuce Link program at Solid Ground.

The funds raised for the non-profit are donated directly to the non-profit by each of the “host” restaurants who have agreed to give 20% of all the diner bills collected between 5:00pm and 10:00pm on Tuesday, June 28th. In return of their gracious support, the Spoke & Food event will have only one host restaurant in each of the neighborhoods that are involved.

Here in Queen Anne you can participate in Spoke & Food at Via Tribunali. Here is the list of others participating restaurants around town:

Ballard – Snoose Junction Pizzeria
Capitol Hill – The Lookout
Madrona – The Madrona Alehouse
Maple Leaf – Snappy Dragon
Phinney Ridge – Stumbling Goat Bistro
Phinney Ridge – The Barking Dog Alehouse
Ravenna – Casa D’Italia
Roosevelt – The Scarlet Tree
University District – Chaco Canyon Organic Café
Wallingford – Julia’s
White Center – Proletariat Pizza
West Seattle – Chaco Canyon Organic Café

School may be out for summer, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help raise money for Queen Anne’s John Hay Elementary. It’s John Hay Day at Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt today, Wednesday, June 22, so swing by for summery treat any time today with either this Menchies Flyer, or tell the cashier you’re with the school, and 20 percent of your purchase will go right back to Hay.

Menchie’s is located at 2101 Queen Anne Ave. N. and is open from 11 a.m. to 1o p.m.

Kayla Healy is a 17-year-old high school senior who has lived with Cystic Fibrosis for her entire life. Unfortunately Kayla’s disease has progressed to the point that she needs a double lung transplant to save her life, and her family is turning to the community to help them raise the money for the procedure.

Though the realities of her disease are nothing new, Kayla has never let her Cystic Fibrosis limit her. At her young age she has stayed as active as possible, even competing in three triathlons. From Kayla’s website:

Kayla has been hospitalized many times throughout her life and has rigorous daily routine of treatments and medications to keep her lungs functioning. The hospitalizations have become more and more frequent and her medication and treatment routines have increased. Recently Kayla has learned that her degenerative disease has progressed to a stage that she is in need of a double lung transplant to save her life. She is currently awaiting her new lungs and looking forward to many activities her current lungs don’t allow her to do. With her new lungs she plans on taking some deep breaths, play softball, snowboard and ski and even run again.

The cost for a double lung transplant is somewhere between $600,000 and $1,000,000, and even with two insurance policies, Kayla’s family will have to pay upwards of $100,000 out of pocket for the surgery and associated medical costs. So Kayla’s family has taken to fundraising in the community to come up with the additional funds. Kayla’s uncle, Queen Anne resident Matt Gangemi, is doing his part by putting on a fundraiser soiree for Kayla that he hopes will get them the rest of the way.

“We’ve gone a long way toward raising this money,” Matt says, but the family is still shy of their goal. As of noon on Tuesday Kayla’s family has raised $92,216.29 of its $100,000 goal, leaving just $7,783.71. to go.

Matt is putting on a soiree and silent auction on Saturday, July 9 (6 p.m. to midnight) to help raise the remaining funds for Kayla’s surgery. The fundraiser will include wine, beer, hors d’oeuvres, dessert, live music, dancing, a photo booth, and over 70 items for auction. All proceeds will go toward Kayla’s medical costs. Tickets are $40 per person, or $75 for a pair. Details can be found at the Facebook event page, or at COTAforKayla.com. To purchase tickets, click here. If you can’t make it to the soiree, but would like to make a donation to support Kayla, you can do so here.

Have you lost any socks in Queen Anne lately? It may sound like a strange question, but it happens… apparently. Maybe you went for a shoeless walk in the park, or lost a few stray socks on your way out of the laundromat? Whatever the reason, there’s now a place for Queen Anne-ers to go to find their missing socks – Charley + May.

Charley + May owner Lauren Formicola decided to put up a Lost Sock Depot in her gallery/gift-shop window earlier this month because she says Queen Anne residents often find lost baby and toddler socks on sidewalks, hedges, fences and in parks around the neighborhood, and she’d like to help those missing socks find their matches.

If you find a lost toddler or baby sock around the neighborhood, you can drop it off at Charley + May (at 2225 Queen Anne Ave N) or slip in in the mail slot when the door is closed, and Formicola will add it to the clothes line in the window where it can wait for its match. For each pair that is matched at the depot, Charley + May will donate a new pair of socks to the Treehouse for Kids, a local organization that works to provide valuable services and programs for local foster kids. Plus the owner of the original lost socks will get to take them back home again.

Students at the Queen Anne Community School and Young Child Academy donated $1,000 to the YWCA of Seattle, King and Snohomish counties to support services for homeless children last month. The students raised the money themselves through a Penny Harvest, proving that even something as small as a penny can make a difference in a community.

Students from Queen Anne Community School and Young Child Academy present $1,000 check to YWCA Community Engagement Director Liz Mills.

After raising the funds, the students set out to decide which community issue they were going to tackle with their pennies. Project committee members, ranging from 3 to 8 years old, interviewed fellow classmates, teachers and and representatives from several organizations to figure out where they wanted to give—ultimately deciding to help homeless children through the YWCA.

“The kids did some research on the issues and presented that for each other and really advocated for the ones that they thought were most important, and then everybody voted,” Queen Anne school second grade teacher and Penny Harvest coach Ilsa Govan said in a press release.

The $1,000 donation will be split down the middle, half supporting the YWCA Emergency Shelter in downtown Seattle, and the other half supporting the YWCA School Days program, which provides backpacks and school supplies for homeless and low-income children in King and Snohomish counties.

As part of the fundraiser several Queen Anne students were able to tour the YWCA Emergency Shelter and see how their pennies will directly help those in need.

“It feels good to give money away to others,” preschooler Ben said in a statement.

The Space Needle at Seattle Center made history last year when, for the first time in the iconic building’s 50 year history, it flew the rainbow Pride flag during Seattle Pride weekend. The flying of the flag for the first time in Seattle history was viewed as act of both corporate and community support of the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

But the Needle caught some flack this month after rumors circulated that the organization did not plan to raise the flag again this year, catching the attention of national progressive organization Change.org, as well as a number of local and national media outlets. With Seattle Pride fast approaching at the end of the month, many in the community spoke out, urging the Needle to again raise the flag.

After an outpouring of support for the flag over the last two weeks, the Space Needle changed its stance this week, announcing that it would raise the flag again, if the greater Seattle community agreed to take on a fundraising challenge: “If the community can raise $50,000 for 4 local charities, the Space Needle will raise the Rainbow Flag on Sunday of Seattle Pride weekend in Seattle,” the Needle wrote in a press release Monday (.pdf).

“We want to harness the enthusiasm that has built up to raise the flag for the encore performance. Our entire community gets involved in whatever issue is at hand and we think that is what makes us so strong. This challenge can reap great benefits for these worthwhile organizations,” said Space Needle LLC Chairman Jeff Wright in the statement.

The $50,000 raised, assuming the challenge is met, will be divided equally between four local charities: The Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) Scholarship Program, Lambda Legal, It Gets Better for the Trevor Project and Mary’s Place, a homeless shelter for women and children. The Space Needle has kicked off the challenge by offering an inaugural donation of $5,000. From the press release:

The Rainbow Flag, flown last year on the Space Needle, will lead the Seattle Pride Parade this year and, if the community challenge is met, it will be raised on the Space Needle when the Parade ends at Seattle Center on Sunday, June 26th. The Seattle Parade has grown in stature for several years now and holds a prominent position on the national scene.

Seattle Out and Proud, the organization behind Seattle Pride weekend, has already responded to the Space Needle’s challenge, partnering with the organization to help raise the funds. [Read more →]

Ballard High School receives very little money for its music program and athletics. In order to supplement the costs, the Ballard High School Foundation holds fundraisers to raise money for the programs.

A foursome at a past BHS Golf Classic

The Foundation’s largest annual event is coming up this August – the 11th annual Ballard High School Golf Classic. “This is really quite the golf tournament with so many BHS alumni, friends and community members hitting the links to support athletics and music at Ballard High,” organizer Sue Verduins tells us.

This year’s event is honoring two individuals that were very influential in the BHS and Ballard communities. Sir Jim Vatn, graduated from BHS in 1962. Not only was Jim very involved in many organizations in the Ballard community but he never forgot his BHS experience giving freely of his time and talents to his alma mater. He was an active member and chair of the Ballard High School Athletic Committee and Ballard High School Foundation. He served as chair of the very successful annual Foundation Golf Classic. Attendees of football and basketball games could hear the “Voice of the Beavers” – and came to recognize it as none other than Jim’s.

The tournament this year is also recognizing Janet Rodgers. Janet was the Director of the BHS Foundation for many years. As Director of the Foundation, Janet built a great team of community members, alumni, faculty and staff that have worked on countless projects benefitting BHS students and the entire Ballard community. She was a part of the group behind the inaugural Ballard Beaver Bash, proceeds of which support BHS academic programs and was heavily involved in the Golf Classic.

The Golf Classic will be held at The Golf Club at Newcastle. The event begins at 6:00 p.m. with a dinner and auction the evening of August 1st at Newcastle. The emcee for the evening event will be BHS’ own Bob Flick (Class of 1956) of the Brothers Four band. The tournament is Tuesday August 2nd with registration beginning at 7:00 a.m. and the 18-hole shotgun starting at 10:00 a.m.

Learn more about the event here and learn about sponsorship opportunities here.

Just a friendly reminder to swing by the Queen Anne Top Pot Doughnuts today to participate in their National Doughnut Day celebrations. They’ll be prizes and festivities, and if you head over before noon, the doughnut shop will be collecting non-perishable food items for Northwest Harvest (bring all donation items to Top Pot by 12 p.m. today).

Fun doughnut-y fact: National Doughnut Day was started by the Salvation Army back in 1938 to honor women who served doughnuts to World War I soldiers.

The weekend before last, on Saturday, May 21, John Hay students and parent volunteers put on a rummage sale and bake sale to raise money for disaster relief for victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. That rummage sale turned out to be a huge success, raising a total of $400 from the bake sale portion and $2,500 from the rummage sale.

The school says all proceeds from the rummage/bake sale will go directly to people in need in Japan, while any left-over items not sold at the event will go toward helping needy families here in the Seattle area.

After almost a year of uncertainty, followed by fundraising for the July 4th fireworks at Gas Works Park, event organizer One Reel today announced the $500,000 goal has been reached and Family 4th fireworks show and celebration will go on.

Interesting note: It wasn’t a Northwest company or person who got One Reel to the goal; instead support bubbled up from Coca-Cola Refreshments – Northwest Region, based in Bellevue. Other supporters include Microsoft, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Talking Rain, BECU, Charlie’s Produce, Merrill Gardens, Taco Time and Smith Brothers Farms.

From the press release:

“Fundraising for the 2011 event began in July of last year, and contributions have come from supporters throughout our region, all with inspiring stories and memories of this Northwest family tradition,” says One Reel Executive Director, Jon Stone. “With true appreciation for the partnership and dedication of the Greater Seattle Chamber, we are glad to put this year’s budget to bed, and look forward to putting on one heck of an Independence Day party for Seattle.”

Family 4th at Lake Union starts at noon at Gas Works Park (2101 N. Northlake Way) on Monday, July 4. The fireworks show begins at 10 p.m. See all our 2010 fireworks coverage here.

In 2009, University of Washington business student William Khazaal was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurological disorder where the immune system attacks the central nervous system.

Khazaal has two young children. Soon after his diagnosis realized how difficult it was to talk to his now five-year-old about the disease, so he and a few other UW students created MS Children’s Book – an illustrated children’s book which explains MS to kids in a way that they understand. 100 percent of the profits from the book’s sales will be donated to the fight against MS, of which there is currently no cure. The goal is to sell 10,000 copies of the book and raise $100,000 to find a cure.

World MS Day is this Wednesday, May 25, and more than 50 local businesses have signed up to donate a portion of their sales to the cause. In Queen Anne How to Cook a Wolf (2208 Queen Anne Ave N) will be donating a portion of its proceeds. A list of all participating restaurants can be found here.

Students from John Hay Elementary will be hosting a rummage sale from 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday, May 21 at the school to raise money for disaster relief in Japan. A variety of items, including clothing, toys, books, and small appliances, will be available at the sale. Two classes of John Hay 2nd graders will also be selling baked goods and coffee at the event, the proceeds of which will also go toward the relief effort.

Can’t make it to the sale but want to lend a hand? Volunteers are needed to help sort items and set up for the sale on Friday, May 20 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Those interested in volunteering their time should contact Johnhayjapanrelief@gmail.com.

All proceeds from the rummage and bake sale will be going directly to the Iwate Bank in Japan, which will use the funds for relief efforts in the areas affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami.