Eleven schools in the Northwest School District will participate in a one-day “blitz” food drive Wednesday to assist needy families in the community.

        Participating schools are: Bevis, Colerain, Houston, Monfort Heights, Pleasant Run, Struble and Weigel elementaries; Colerain, Pleasant Run and White Oak middle schools, and Colerain High School.

        The drive is sponsored by the Safe, Drug-Free Schools and Communities Grand Advisory Council of the district.

        “This is something our council decided it wanted to do this year,” said Cheryl Gabe, chairman of the council and director of public relations for the district. “We are getting help from businesses such as Mount Airy IGA, Kroger's, Bigg's and McDonald's in Northgate.”

        She said police departments from Colerain, Green and Springfield townships and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department will hand-deliver the items to food pantries.

        “The goal is to help stock food pantries with non-perishable food items, and other necessities, that they use to assist the needy in our community,” Ms. Gabe said.

        Recipients are SON Ministries and St. Ann's food centers in Groesbeck and Corpus Christi, New Burlington.

        There will be a homeroom winner from among the schools based on percentage of participation. Winners will be treated to a breakfast.
       • • •

        The Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, pastor of the Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, one of the nation's fastest-growing churches, will preach for the Bethel College Enrichment Preaching series, 7 p.m. Thursday at Bethel AME Church in Oxford.

        The Rev. Mr. Bryant, a former national director of the Youth and College Division of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), will be joined by the Wilberforce University Gospel Choir.

        The Empowerment Temple is less than two years old, but has a membership of 3,000..

        While the Rev. Mr. Bryant was with the NAACP he spearheaded the “Stop the Violence Start the Love Crusade,” which has been featured in Emerge magazine, The Source and USA Today. He has appeared on BET, CNN, C-Span and Politically Incorrect.

        He is host of a Sunday talk show, Keepin' It Real.

        • • •

        Fourth-graders from Holy Family School, 3001 Price Ave., Price Hill, presented two plays at the Sisters of Charity Mother Margaret Hall nursing home last week: Sleeping Beauty, and The Tiger and the Brahman.

        The program was a part of the Intergenerational Project between the two groups.

        Allen Howard's “Some Good News” column runs Sunday-Friday. If you have suggestions about outstanding achievements, or people who are uplifting to the Tristate, let him know at 768-8362, at ahoward@enquirer.com or by fax at 768-8340.

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