• Classic Car and Motorcycle Show – NO ENTRY FEES
• RV Tour and Scavenger Hunt
• Stuff the RV Fundraiser for American Troops*
• Propane sale ($2.19/gallon)
• Seal Tech Inspection Seminar
• Product Raffles
• Free Lunch
• Free Goodie Bags
• Dinghy Towing Seminar
• Cash prizes for winners of the the car show

*Stuff the RV:  This event is a local fundraiser to collect donations to send care packages to troops stationed overseas. For each donation you bring, you’ll receive a raffle ticket.

Items needed:  non-perishable food, hygiene products, letters of encouragement and support, books, magazines and games

Breakfast for the Kids:  May 23

Join local leaders and volunteers to raise money for youth in the Kent School District at the annual Communities In Schools breakfast.

Thurs., May 23, 2013
7:30 – 9:00 a.m.

Kent Phoenix Academy
11000 SE 264th St.
Kent, WA  98030
FREE, Donations are encouraged.

REGISTER HERE

Communities in Schools of Kent

Communities In Schools is the nation’s largest dropout organization. In over 200 communities across 27 states, we work closely with schools, social services, businesses and volunteers to get young people the things they need to learn and grow: after-school help and family services to stabilize the home. Without these basic supports, kids in need or at-risk are far less likely to succeed and grow into productive adults.

Getting kids what they need – when they need it.

CIS of Kent services students in 14 Kent schools.  During the last school year, CIS of Kent provided services to 3,880 students through programs like its Elementary Mentoring Program, hosted at 12 Kent elementary schools, and the Kent Performance Learning Center at Kent Phoenix Academy, a non-traditional high school program designed for students who have ability but are not succeeding within the traditional schools setting.

Proven, Evidence-based Strategy

Recent third-party findings confirm: Of the many organizations working to improve student outcomes, Communities In Schools, through coordination of services, is proven to be more effective, and results in higher graduation rates, and higher percentages of students reaching proficiency in math and reading.

http://www.kent.ciswa.org/

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Communities-In-Schools-of-Kent/269096273112662

The Rotary Club of Kent is dreaming big this spring with its annual fundraiser gala. This year’s event will be held Sat., Apr. 27, 5 to 9 p.m., at ShoWare Center.

With more than 400 guests expected, the Rotary Club of Kent hopes to raise big bucks to help the community through a variety of programs, including providing KSD third graders with dictionaries and this year’s Funded Item: V.E.T. Fund to support education for U.S. veterans. 

Tickets for the event are $75/each or you can donate online. For more info., visit the Rotary Club of Kent online.

Part of the gala will include a Live Auction with these items available for bid:

• 10-day cruise for 2 in an outside cabin on Holland America to almost everywhere they go
• 7-day African photo safari
• A car from Bowen-Scarff Ford Lincoln
• 7-day stays in condos in Hawaii, San Diego and Palm Springs
• $2,000 towards a stay at a fishing lodge in Alaska
• Dinners, wine tasting events and baskets galore!
• A suite at a Seattle Thunderbirds game
• Work crews
• Gift certificates to local shops and region experiences
• …and about 300 more items!

In addition, there will be three silent auctions, raffles for two selections of 50 bottles of wine and other prizes.

Children’s Therapy Center and Their Dynamic Partners Set $250,000 Goal for
25^th Annual “Fun for Funds” Dinner Auction on March 23

As Dynamic Partners plans its 25^th Annual Fun for Funds Dinner Auction on March 23, organizers set an ambitious goal to raise $250,000. Net proceeds from the fundraiser will be allocated for the Burien Multi-Service Center, a new facility designed for the expansion of SKIP Early Intervention, Children’s Therapy Center, Dynamic Orthotic Services and SPIO Compression Orthoses. All of these organizations serve children with special needs under the Dynamic Partners’ umbrella.

The title sponsor for this year’s event is Olympic Pharmacy Healthcare Services who has generously donated $25,000 toward Dynamic Partners’ goal. With a Roaring 20s theme, this exciting event will be held on Sat., Mar. 23 at Emerald Downs in Auburn. Fun for Funds will include a cocktail party for sponsors, a plated dinner, dessert rush, a game of “heads or tails,” two silent auctions and a live auction. KOMO4 news anchor Denise Whitaker will emcee the event; Keith Robbins will serve as the auctioneer.

Among the auction items this year are tickets to Disneyland, Alaska Airline tickets, weekend getaways, winery tours, original artwork, handcrafted quilts, museum passes, restaurant gift cards and more.

Tickets for the speakeasy-themed event are $65 each and include dinner and a Roaring 20s-style cocktail. Tickets can be purchased online on the Dynamic Partners’ website. Once registered, guests will receive the special password to enter the speakeasy. To get in the spirit of the event, guests are also encouraged to dress in 1920s attire – flapper dresses, feathered headbands, pin-striped suites, fedoras, etc.

“Our annual event is a fun evening for our guests! It’s why they come back year after year,” says Jon Botten, CEO of Dynamic Partners, the parent organization for Children’s Therapy Center. “They also come back for the satisfaction of knowing they are helping children with special needs reach their full potential.”

To date, the following sponsors have signed on to support the event:  Olympic Pharmacy Healthcare Services, SPIO, Kent Station, Univar USA, Live Oak Audio Visual, Industry Sign & Graphics, Highline Graphics Production, Emerald Downs, Virtually Yourz, Moneytree, Inc., Kent Lions Club, Brantley Janson Yost & Ellison, FamilyCare of Kent, Kudasai, Miller Hayashi Architects, LLC, Cox Financial, Curran Law Firm, Hatchbacks Footwear, Inc, Haeger Orthodontics, ONEDURR Painting, Inc., The Rock Wood Fired Pizza & Spirits, The Creative Office, Whidbey Island Bank, R. L. Evans Company, Inc. and ATG Rehab.

Additional sponsors and auction item donors are still being sought. To become a sponsor or to donate, visit Dynamic Partners online or call Lois Linth, Chief Development Officer, at 253-854-5660. For more information about the event, including stories of children and families who have been helped by Dynamic Partners, visit the organization’s website.

Dynamic Partners is a consortium of organizations collaborating to help children with special needs and their family through the provision of pediatric physical, occupational, and speech language therapy, early intervention, specialized education, custom orthotics, and compression garments and parent training. The children we serve are ages birth to eighteen living in South King and Pierce counties and have a wide variety of disabling conditions including autism, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, Down syndrome, strokes, and other developmental delays.  Our Dynamic Partners include Children’s Therapy Center, South King Early Intervention Program, Dynamic Orthotic Systems, SPIO Compression Garments, and Dynamic Labs.    

For more information, contact:

Lois Linth, Chief Development Officer
Dynamic Partners
10811 SE Kent-Kangley Rd.
Kent, WA  98030       
253-854-5660
lois@dynamicpartners.org
www.dynamicpartners.org

Folks at the City of Kent and local volunteers are busy planning another fun You We Me, an interactive evening of free family fun. This year’s event will be held at ShoWare Center on Fri., Mar. 1 and will feature a variety of activities for kids of all ages. In addition to collecting food for the Kent Food Bank, event highlights include:

• 44 interactive vendor booths
• Bike raffle from Redline Bikes
• Radio Disney
• Sports competitions
• Face painting, hands on activities, games
• Bounce houses
• Rainier Youth Choirs
• Neely O’Brien DRUM and Red Hawk Singers
• Electronettes Drill Team and Drum Squad
• Cameron Sterling
• Kitana Turnball
• Allegro Performing Arts Academy
• Kent Elementary STOMP and Dance Team
• New Beginning Alofa Tunoa Youth Dance Group
• Kent Meridian Bridging the Seas Bollywood Group
• Kent Knights Jr. Cheer Team
• Kent Meridian Pacific Island Club
• $1 hot dogs and soda

Kent Food Bank will be on hand to accept donations of nonperishable food items. The event is organized by a cross-section of community groups, the Kent School District, Kent Parks, local youth groups, sports teams, scouts, churches, local businesses and service clubs. Come join the fun!

UPDATED Feb. 2, 2013, 6:18 a.m. — On Feb. 2, local Kent firefighters will climb stairs at Kent Station to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In this year’s event, the Kent Fire Department will have 14 participants who will climb stairs on a stairclimber at the Kent Station Fountain Stage outside of AMC Theatres. The goal is 69 flights of stairs, 1,311 steps and 788 feet of vertical elevation. In 2012, participants raised $7,000. The goal this year is $10,000.

Want to make a donation on site? The firefighters will not only appreciate it but they’ll also give each donor a card with a list of Kent Station discounts as a thank you. Discounts for donors include Cow Chip Cookies, Duke’s, Extreme Pita, Hairmasters, Naked Pizza and Trapper’s Sushi!

For more information, or to make a donation online, visit the Kent firefighters’ Stairclimb page, call 206.628.0777 or send an email.

Updated Feb. 2, 2013 at 9:11 p.m.

Each year a number of Kent nonprofit organizations plan fundraising auctions. Here is a list of some of those events, so you can plan ahead. See one missing? Please email us so we can add it. Thank you for supporting the Kent community!

Rainier Chorale Stardust Cabaret & Silent Auction
Sat., Feb. 9
6:00 p.m.
Tickets are $65 each, or $600 for a table of 10.
More info. available online at RainierChorale.org, or call 206-835-8888.

Soroptimist International of Kent – Food, Fashions & Fun
Mar. 14, 2013
5:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Fashion Show, Dinner and Silent Auction
Fund-an-Item to benefit the Genesis Project, a drop in center for women in the greater Kent area who are trying to escape the sex trafficking trade. Tickets are $50. Call event chair Adrienne Rockwell at 253.631.3372 or via email to buy tickets.

Dynamic Partners (“Fun for Funds” Dinner Auction benefiting Children’s Therapy Center, SKIP & DOS)
Sat., Mar. 23 @ Emerald Downs

Kent Chamber Gala – “Prom Night”
Fri., Mar. 29 @ ShoWare Center

Kent Rotary Auction – ESCAPADES
Sat., Apr. 27 @ ShoWare Center

Communities in Schools of Kent – Annual Fundraising Breakfast
Thurs., May 23

Relay for Life Kent
Fri., May 31 – Sat., June 1
French Field, 10020 SE 256th Street, Kent

Kent Downtown Partnership Dinner Auction
Sat., Jun. 22

Kent Youth & Family Services International Gala
Sat., Sept. 14
6 – 9 p.m.
Highline Community College Student Union

Meridian-Kent Kiwanis Club’s Casino Night
Sat., Sept. 28
6 – 10:30 p.m.
Kent Senior Activity Center, 600 E. Smith St., Kent

Kent Sunrise Rotary Oktoberfest
Sat., Oct. 5

Kent Food Bank Fundraising Breakfast
Fri., Oct. 11, 7:30 a.m.
Kent Covenant Church
Email Jeniece Choate for more info.

*This information is subject to change. Please confirm event dates, times and details with the organization’s event coordinators.

KDP Auction June 2010

 
Help your family safe with these tips from the Northwest Burn Foundation.

• Install and maintain smoke detectors. Check batteries monthly, and replace once a year.
• Turn your hot water heater to 120 degrees.
• Keep space heaters three feet away from bedding, drapes, furniture, walls, etc.
• Place candles in a safe holder, and away from flammable materials and children.
• Never leave candles, fireplaces or wood stoves unattended.
• Always use a fire screen when using your fireplace.
• Never use gasoline to start a fire.
• Empty all types of ashes into a metal container.
• Use the back burners on your stove and turn pot handles inward.
• Coffee, tea, soup and hot water can be hot enough to cause serious injury.
• Keep irons, crock pots, tea kettles, coffee pots and other household appliances out of reach of children.
• Be careful when removing items from the microwave.
• Plan and practice a fire escape routine with your family at least twice a year.

Local Boy Scout troops will collect and recycle Christmas trees on Sat., Jan. 5, 2013 in exchange for a suggested donation of $5. Undecorated trees should be left curbside by 8 a.m. on Jan. 5, including a payment inside an envelope with “Boy Scouts” marked outside. Trees will be picked up by 4 p.m.

As an alternative, Christmas tree owners can drop off their trees from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Service Club Ballfields at 14608 SE 288th St., Kent. Boy Scouts will be available to help unload the trees and accept donations. The money earned from the Christmas tree recycling program will be used to support scouting activities throughout the year including troop activities, camps and awards. Donations can also be mailed to Christmas Tree Drive, P O Box 5094, Kent, WA 98064. Questions? Call Kent Lions Foundation at 253.852.5466.

In addition, Kent residential garbage customers can leave their trees curbside the week of Jan. 7 – 11 on their regular collection day. Trees must be stripped of ornaments and tinsel (sorry, no flocked trees). Trees taller than five feet must be cut into three foot sections and bundled with twine.

The trees will be used by the Kent Parks Department as mulch and to maintain trails in the city parks.

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Ginger Passarelli (known by many as “Mama”) for a story I was writing for The Seattle Times. Since then, I’ve written several stories about Ginger, her restaurant and The Soup Ladies. She stands out as a true community hero, someone who gives selflessly of her time and talent when people need it the most. She’s passed her generous spirit on to other volunteers who are collectively known as The Soup Ladies. These women tirelessly cook and serve hot meals to emergency crews, search & rescue workers, law enforcement, fire fighters and others who help in emergency situations.

Yesterday The Soup Ladies received the donation of a retired 4×4 all-terrain vehicle to help The Soup Ladies get to rescue workers wherever they are. In a November 13 press release, King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn said, “The Soup Ladies are an invaluable volunteer group here in the Pacific Northwest. I am ecstatic to play a part in securing this vehicle that will help them continue to serve our community. A big thank you goes to the Sheriff’s Office and the County Executives as well who also played a part in making this handover possible.”

Next up for The Soup Ladies:  a trip to New York City to assist in the recovery from Hurricane Sandy.

Thank you, Ginger and your selfless Soup Ladies, for all you do!

Photo courtesy of King County Council

The American Cancer Society’s 37th annual “Great American Smokeout” is November 15.  Use the date to formulate a plan to quit smoking; even if it is for one day.  This could be your first step to a healthier, smoke-free lifestyle, and reducing your cancer risk.

This online resource can offer great resources on how to begin quitting.  Remember, it’s easier to quit when you have support, and The American Cancer Society has fantastic support tools to help you quit. 

Hosted by the Kent Parks Foundation and Arthur Murray Dance Studios, Local celebrities will gather in the Lindbloom Center at Green River Community College this Sat., Oct. 20 to dance their hearts out in the second annual Dancing with the Stars Kent. Proceeds from this fundraiser will be used to support parks programs including buying new computers for the Big Blue Bus, resistance trainer bike stands for Adaptive Recreation classes, lifeguard supplies for Lake Meridian, supporting Green Kent Partnership and drop-in soccer fields at West Fenwick Park.

Celebrity dancers include:

- State Representative Tina Orwall
- Senator Joe Fain
- Matt Schweitzer, Direction of Operations, Cal’s Classic American
- Kent Councilmember Elizabeth Albertson
- Barbara Smith, Executive Director of the Kent Downtown Partnership
- Patrick Briggs, Executive Assistant to Mayor Suzette Cooke
- Sharona Chandra, Chair of the Kent Arts Commission
- Commander Tracey Church
- Firefighter Ryan Dudley
- David Hobbs, Parks Program Coordinator
- Kent Councilmember Deb Ranniger (winner of last year’s Philanthropic Trophy)

Barbara Smith, pictured above, said, “I feel so honored to be asked to dance; one, because Arthur Murray dancers at Federal Way are fabulous instructions, and because we are raising money for programs to help kids through the Kent Parks Foundation. It’s just a win-win.”

Tickets are available online at KentParksFoundation.org. General admission tickets are available for $30 and VIP Dinner tickets are $100.

Holistic Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (H.O.P.E.) is hosting a free workshop this Sat., Oct. 20 to help the community find solutions to homeless in the Kent community.

Beyond the Band Aid
Sat., Oct. 20
Noon – 3 p.m.
Kent Commons (Green River Room)
525 Fourth Ave. N., Kent, WA 98032

Sponsored by Holistic Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (H.O.P.E.)
Housing – Giving – Caring / Shelter – Hope
Supportive – Safety – Acceptance
Neighbors / Community

Free Lunch Provided – Translators Provided

- Diverse Panel Discussion
- Interactive Audience Participation
- Dynamic Proven Solutions

All interested and concerned are welcome
RSVP 206-551-3164 or via Email

This weekend help the Greater Kent Historical Society (GKHS) elebrate with the past, while preparing for the future, at the organization’s annual dinner auction. Scheduled for Sat., Oct. 6, the dinner auction runs from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the Kent Senior Activity Center, 600 E. Smith St., Kent. The event features a silent auction, a live auction and a dessert dash. Support the local museum and the historical society’s work by purchasing a ticket for $50.00 each or reserving a table of 8 for $400.00. Call 253-854-4430 for more information.

The Greater Kent Historical Society is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible. GKHS operates the Kent Historical Museum in the Bereiter House (built in 1908) at 855 E. Smith St. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. and at other times by appointment.

Savor the Season — SeptemberFest is coming to Kent Station Thurs., Sept. 20 from 5 to 8 p.m. Sponsored by Reds Wine Bar and other Kent Station restaurants, the festival will include wine, beer, live music, Click 98.9′s Party Crew and more, all to support Children’s Therapy Center, a local nonproft. Held in the south parking lot, admission to the family-friendly event is free. To participate in the Reds Wine and Beer Garden, however, guests must be 21 or older and show a valid ID. For more info., visit Kent Station online or call marketing manager Sommer Ueda at 253-856-2301.

The first 25 guests will receive an additional $10 in food and drink tickets.

The first 100 guests will receive a free wine tasting, courtesy of Reds Wine Bar (must be 21 and have valid ID).