Poet Nikki Giovanni, professor of English, and Gloria D. Smith, professor of black studies at Virginia Tech, will open a series of programs commemorating Black History Month at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Main Library Atrium downtown.

        Ms. Giovanni will start the series with a lecture and poetry reading.

        The title of the series is “Live at Your Library: Making Change.”

        Ms. Giovanni, who grew up in Lincoln Heights, has written extensive poetry about black American life.

        In her first two poetry collections, Black Feeling, Black Talk, written in 1968, and Black Judgement, in 1969, she talks about African-American identity.

        Recent works by Ms. Giovanni include Blues for All the Changes: New Poems, 1999; Love Poems, 1997; and Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni, 1996. Ms. Giovanni won the NAACP Image Award for Literature in 1998 and the Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters in 1996. She has been named Woman of the Year by Essence, Mademoiselle and Ladies' Home Journal.

        The series continues at 2 p.m., Feb. 17 with Herbert Woodward Martin, poet-in-residence at the University of Dayton and co-editor of a new book on acclaimed poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.

        About 100 children at the FreeStore/FoodBank's Kids Cafe ate egg noodles prepared by Mueller's chef Mark Prece last week.

        Mueller's also donated 8,000 servings of egg noodles to the FreeStore/ FoodBank.

        Casey Kershner, public relations with Barkley Evergreen Partners, said the company made the donation to have an impact in the fight against child hunger in Cincinnati.

        “The egg noodles were served to about a hundred kids, ages 5 to 16,” Mr. Kershner.

        The regular volunteers at the Kids Cafe in the Newport Church of God, 401 Keturah St., had a blast with it.

        They usually cook for about 100 kids each night. But they had a night off and a chance to chat with Mr. Prece and exchange recipes.

        “This was something different for us,” said Mary Sehlhorst, Kids Cafe coordinator. “The company had a chance to do its community service while having fun with the kids.”

        Last year, 1,500 kids received meals at the seven Kids Cafe sites in Over-the-Rhine, Camp Washington, Millvale, Winton Place, Covington, Newport and Dayton, Ky.

        The Hamilton County Park District has received a $5,000 grant from the General Electric Fund's Environmental Stewardship Committee for buying and planting trees and shrubs in park areas.

        The fund, which is the philanthropic foundation of GE, invests in projects in GE communities around the world.

        Allen Howard's “Some Good News” column runs Monday-Friday and Sundays. If you have suggestions about outstanding achievements, or people who are committing acts of kindness uplifting to the Tristate, let him know at (513) 768-8362; at ahoward@enquirer.com; or by fax at (513) 768-8340.

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