n Frackville: American Red Cross Blood Services, Northeast Pennsylvania Region, will hold a blood drive from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Schuylkill Mall. People 17 or older (16 with parental permission in Pennsylvania), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in general good health are eligible to donate blood. People should bring their Red Cross blood donor cards or other form of positive identification when donating blood. All presenting donors during April will have a chance to win a $250 gift card. People can make an appointment to donate blood by going online to www.redcrossblood.org.
n Mahanoy City: The Suicide Prevention Task Force will sponsor a Walk for Suicide Awareness from noon to 3 p.m. April 26 at Mahanoy Area Alumni Field. Registration will begin at 11 a.m. and the walk will be held rain or shine. Food will be on sale and there will be activities for children. Information will also be available. For more information, call 570-628-1254.
n Pottsville: Members of the Pottsville Rotary Club will mark the club's 100th anniversary celebration with a dinner-dance April 17, 2015, in the clubhouse at Mountain Valley Golf Course, Barnesville area. Organizers, according to the Rotary bulletin, plan to invite current and former members, friends of the club and Rotarians within the district. A 100th anniversary fundraiser and club projects are also being organized. Rotary volunteers are needed to help.
n Pottsville: American Red Cross Blood Services, Northeast Pennsylvania Region, will hold a blood drive from 1 to 6 p.m. Friday at the Fairlane Village mall, Route 61. People 17 or older (16 with parental permission in Pennsylvania), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in general good health are eligible to donate blood. People should bring their Red Cross blood donor cards or other form of positive identification when donating blood. All presenting donors during April will have a chance to win a $250 gift card. People can make an appointment to donate blood by going online to www.redcrossblood.org.
n Tamaqua: A new collaborative venture aimed at drawing attention to and raising hope for the community's future is being organized. Called Dear Tamaqua, it will encourage communitywide participation from all segments of the population, "building toward a more complete ownership of the community's unique identity," organizers said in a release. A public meeting on the project will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Tamaqua Community Art Center, 125 Pine St., for anyone wanting to learn more about the effort or to offer assistance. The project will occur in two phases. In the first phase, current and past residents will be encouraged to share personal memories, experiences and hopes for the future life of Tamaqua. The second phase will involve a large-scale public spectacle in the streets of Tamaqua in August 2015, bringing to life the stories gathered during the first phase. "Through our efforts over the past two years, the initiative has noticed an interesting disparity in those who love and appreciate their community, yet have deep concerns about its future because of crime, safety, jobs, family, lack of neighborhood connections and more," Leona Rega, Tamaqua Safety Initiative coordinator, said in the release. Dear Tamaqua seeks the good and bad perspectives of the community to be written on paper or submitted online - as original music, video, poetry or visual art. Entries submitted before May 1 will be eligible for inclusion in a public presentation at the Tamaqua Summer Fest 2014 on June 15 and the National Night Out on Aug. 5. All entries will help serve as inspiration for the large-scale public spectacle to be presented in the streets of Tamaqua on Aug. 4, 2015. Physical letters may be mailed to Tamaqua Safety Initiative, c/o Dear Tamaqua, 125 Pine St., Tamaqua, PA 18252. Electronic submission may be entered through the project website at www.deartamaqua.com. For more information on the project, including how to get involved or to make a monetary or in-kind donation, call Rega at 570-668-1192 or email to leona@tacp.info.