| Community - Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Around Town: Church seeks volunteers for Compassion Weekend
Menlo Park Presbyterian Church is seeking more than 5,000 volunteers to work on 28 projects in dozens of Peninsula neighborhoods during Compassion Weekend, being held on Saturday and Sunday, April 28 and 29.
For the past seven years, the church has mobilized thousands of volunteers from local churches and communities to engage in community service projects addressing such areas as education, housing, medical care and poverty.
Compassion Weekend has poured more than $350,000 and 12,000 work hours back in the community on a single weekend, said Carolyn R. Bennett, communications manager for the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.
"After the weekend, many volunteers branch out and continue to give their time to local schools and nonprofit organizations year-round," she said. "Compassion Weekend volunteers range from skilled workers to families with small children. There's a place for everyone to participate. "
"Compassion Weekend is an easy way for people who want to help others," says the church's mission pastor, Mark Swarner. "We invite everyone to participate with us. It only takes a few hours to make the Bay Area a better place."
Visit CompassionWeekend.com for more information.
Contract bridge unit opens new center
The Palo Alto Unit 503 of the American Contract Bridge League has opened a new bridge center at 432A Stierlin Road in Mountain View, trumping out the old center, which was also in Mountain View.
The center offers games, classes and lectures for the unit's 900-plus members. Many plan to play at the center's grand opening party on Sunday, April 29. The cost is $8.
Lunch starts at 11:30 a.m., followed by a game at 1 p.m., with the competition divided into three levels. Players can win prizes and gifts.
Visit paloaltobridge.com or call 940-1824 for more information.
— Kate Daly
Jupiter String Quartet performs in Atherton
Music@Menlo's winter series concludes at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 29, at the Performing Arts Center at Menlo-Atherton High School, located at 555 Middlefield Road in Atherton.
The Jupiter String Quartet will present an afternoon of masterworks that include the F Major String Quartet, op 77, no. 2 by Joseph Haydn and Franz Schubert's String Quartet in G Major, D 887.
Tickets are $45-$50 for adults and $20-$25 for students.
Visit musicatmenlo.org or call 331-0202 for more information.
Homework help
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula and Ross Stores Inc. are partnering to sponsor the Power Hour program, an after-school homework assistance program for members, ages 6 to 18.
Ross Stores will underwrite staff training. The clubs are also working on opportunities for Ross store employees to volunteer.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula has three clubhouses and four school sites in East Palo Alto, eastern Menlo Park, and Redwood City. Nearly 2,000 youth take part in club activities.
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