GEM Fund gala Sunday

ASHEVILLE – The GEM Anniversary Party will be 4-6 p.m. Sunday at the historic Fernihurst Mansion on the Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College campus.

GEM — for Gaining Educational Momentum — is a project of the 170-member Asheville branch of the national AAUW, the American Association of University Women. The GEM Fund provides undergraduate scholarships to A-B Tech and UNC Asheville women whose education has been interrupted or delayed.

Tickets to the gala are $45 and will include wine and hors d’oeuvres, live music, a raffle and silent auction and a chance to meet the scholars. RSVP to homcclintock@gmail.com. Tax-deductible donations may be mailed to GEM Fund, 4B Long Shoals Rd. #135, Arden NC 28704.

To learn more, visit http://asheville-nc.aauw.net/.

Food drive for children set for Friday

ARDEN – The second annual Break the Hunger food drive on Friday — to help keep children from going hungry during summer break — will include drop-offs at both Carolina Furniture Concept locations: from 4:30 a.m.-7 p.m. at the 2617 Hendersonville Road store in Arden and from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Waynesville store, 121 Eagles Nest Road.

Donors should bring nonperishable food items such as canned goods, formula and rice as well as other essential items including diapers, toothpaste and toilet paper. All donations will go to Children First/Communities In Schools of Buncombe County and Communities In Schools of the Great Smoky Mountains, which will distribute the items to the children and families they serve.

The drive is sponsored by News 13, Carolina Furniture Concepts and Two Men a Truck. To learn more, visit www.wlos.com/community/features/break-the-hunger and childrenfirstcisbc.org.

Mast to mark Land Trust Day June 7

ASHEVILLE – The Mast General Store celebrates Land Trust Day with the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy on Saturday, donating 20 percent of sales at the Asheville and Waynesville stores that day to the conservancy.

Representatives from the conservancy will be on hand at both stores: 15 Biltmore Ave., Asheville, and 63 N. Main St., Waynesville.

To learn more, visit www.appalachian.org and www.MastStore.com.

Dinner benefits ABCCM

ASHEVILLE – The Hominy Valley United Methodist Men will hold its annual Community BBQ Meal from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday at Acton United Methodist Church, 171 Sand Hill School Road.

Proceeds will benefit the Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry.

Each meal is $10 and includes slow cooked pork barbecue, cole slaw, baked beans and a beverage. Eat in or take out. To learn more, call Doug Ledford at 768-1498.

Farm to Table dinner aids kids

BILTMORE FOREST – On June 8, Jane and David Whilden will host a locally sourced Farm to Table Dinner at 6 p.m. at their home. Funds raised will support Verner, a nonprofit early care and education center serving children in Buncombe County.

Dinner will be cooked by chef Joe Scully of Chestnut and The Corner Kitchen and guests will learn about the impact their contributions have on the children and families served by Verner. Tickets are $100 per person.

Jane Whilden serves on the board of directors for Verner. The nonprofit’s mission is to ensure young children thrive, families flourish and early care and education professionals excel. Verner serves almost 200 children and their families each year.

To learn more or RSVP, call 298-0808 or visit vernerearlylearning.org.

Health Advocates to honor Huff

ASHEVILLE – WNC Health Advocates has announced the recipient of the 2014 Michael T. Danforth Community Service Award: Dr. Olson Huff, a longtime advocate for health care, especially for children. He will receive the award at a luncheon from 1-3 p.m. June 13 at Kenilworth Presbyterian Church, 123 Kenilworth Road.

Born in Kentucky, Huff has practiced pediatrics in North Carolina since 1968, first in Charlotte, until 1982, then Asheville. He worked with the Developmental Evaluation Center and was an adjunct faculty and assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the Mountain Area Health Education Center from 1982-90.

He was medical director of the Ruth and Billy Graham Children’s Health Center at Mission Hospital when Mission Children’s Hospital was formed. Now retired, he continues to serve on a number of boards. To learn more, visit wnchealthadvocates.org, follow @life_o_mike on Twitter or find the WNC Health Advocates page on Facebook.

Magic show benefit scheduled

ASHEVILLE – The next monthly benefit show known as Magic, Mirth Meaning will be at 6:30 p.m. June 28 at St. Mary’s Church, 337 Charlotte St. Additional shows are planned for July 26, Aug. 23 and Sept. 20.

Each family-friendly, 90-minute show includes magicians, storytellers, musicians and theatrical entertainers, all helping to raise money for local nonprofit The Vanishing Wheelchair. The group is seeking to create monthly dinners and art workshops for people with disabilities, as well as a universally accessible hands-on children’s museum of arts, crafts and sciences.

The show is free, but the suggested donation is $10, or $5 for children. RSVP at VanishingWheelchair.org or contact 645-2941, shimeldt@vanishingwheelchair.org or Magic Central, 175 Weaverville Highway, Suite L, Asheville, NC 28804.

Magician Ricky Boone and T.J. Shimeld, co-author of Boone’s biography, “The Four-Foot Giant and the Vanishing Wheelchair,” will be available to sign books after the shows.

Run to support Shindig

ASHEVILLE – The third annual Run For Shindig on the Green 5K Race Fun Walk/Run begins at 8:30 a.m. June 28 in Carrier Park.

The 5K is $25 until June 26, $30 on race day. It’s $10 for the Fun Walk/Run. Register online at www.active.com. Same-day registration is 7:30-8:15 a.m.

To learn more, visit www.folkheritage.org or call 258-6101, ext. 345.

Schools foundation welcomes Boone

ASHEVILLE – Celebrated football coach Herman Boone, subject of the movie, “Remember the Titans,” will be the keynote speaker at Buncombe County School Foundation’s 30th anniversary luncheon on Sept. 16.

In 1971, racial tensions ran high at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, as three schools merged to form a newly integrated one. Out of this experience the story of “Remember the Titans” and its undefeated football team emerged.

Registration is now open for the luncheon, at the Asheville Renaissance Hotel, which will celebrate the teachers, students, volunteers and donors who have helped and benefited from the Foundation’s 30 years of support of Buncombe County Schools.

Admission is $35 and sponsorships are still available.

To register or learn more, visit www.bcsf.net or the foundation’s Facebook page or call 232-4190.

To have your event listed, send info and a contact phone number two weeks in advance to Features Editor Bruce Steele at bsteele@citizen-times.com. Send info as text only; no fliers. Call 232-5848.