The "Guess Who's Coming to Lunch" series will continue at noon on April 12 at Vine Elementary School, Over-the-Rhine, with the Rev. Damon Lynch III as the series speaker.

Lynch will discuss his City of Hope idea for neighborhood improvements.

Helen O'Neal, coordinator of Family and Children First, said the series was launched last Monday with Cincinnati City Councilman Christopher Smitherman speaking on financial planning.

The Rev. Damon Lynch III is an upcoming guest at the Vine St. Elementary School's "Guess Who's Coming to Lunch" program. Lynch discusses the program with school coordinator Helen O'Neal. The Enquirer/MICHAEL E. KEATING

"We had about 50 parents, some workers here at the school and children joining the series," O'Neal said. "The parents seemed absolutely thrilled. One of the topics parents had indicated they wanted was advice on budgeting.

She said Smitherman was invited as the first speaker because of his background as a financial analyst.

The "Guess Who's Coming to Lunch" series is a part of the Hamilton County Family and Children First Council, which has developed school-based programs that develop strategies and services to address the needs of targeted schools, O'Neal said.

"Our programs target the family as well as the students," O'Neal said. She said parents are encouraged to give back to the neighborhood through volunteering.

Video shows danger of driving

Just about every high school in the Tristate has received a copy of a video titled Three Drivers, Eighteen Lives.

The video is part of the "You Hold the Key" campaign, sponsored by the Bethesda North trauma program. It provides a personal account of three local teenage age drivers or passengers who were involved in fatal car crashes.

"This is about real accidents that happened here," said Stephanie Lambers, trauma prevention director for Bethesda North Hospital.

"We have received a lot of response from the video. This gets into the reality of foolish driving, and I think what makes it effective is it is teens talking to teens."

Lambers said the video was started by Bethesda , but was produced by Freedman, Gibson & White. The video package was distributed by Fed Ex.

Lambers said a public service campaign comes with the video.

"We have a discussion guide for health teachers and drivers education instructors," he said.

Taft taking artist applications

The Taft Museum of Art is accepting applications for its 2004 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence.

The purpose of the residency is to promote and develop a deepening awareness of art and artists of African origin.

The program was established in honor of painter Robert S. Duncanson (1821-1872).

Send application to Robert S. Duncanson Society, c/o Abby Schwartz, curator of education, Taft Museum of Art, 316 Pike St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.

Youth group fasts for homeless

MILFORD - Teens at Christ Presbyterian Church in Milford took time this weekend to learn about how it feels to be hungry.

Eleven members of the church's youth group participated in a "Fast that Lasts" campaign, sleeping in cardboard boxes inside the church and not consuming anything but water and juice for 30 hours.

"We hope they'll get a better understanding of what it's like to be poor and hungry," Cathy Ridgway, the church youth group leader, said of the students, who range from sixth to 10th grades. "By the morning, the energy is very low, and I ask them to think about what it would be like to wake up like that every morning."

During the 30-hour fast, the youth group members collected canned goods from neighborhoods in the Milford-Miami Township area, and church members sponsor the students. Proceeds go to both the Presbyterian Hunger Program and Milford-Miami Ministries, Ridgway said.

During the fast, the students passed the time praying, writing in journals and studying Bible passages about feeding the hungry and helping others.

It's the fellowship and the sense that the teens are doing something for other people that draw many of them back to the event each year, Ridgway said.

"It's a lock-in at the church, and they like to be together. I think it's just fun for the students and they like the challenge of seeing if they can go 30 hours without eating," she said.