All Saints holding craft fair
WATSONVILLE — All Saints Cristo Rey Episcopal Church’s first-ever Holiday Craft Fair will be held on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 437 Rogers Ave. in Watsonville.
All crafters who wish to display and sell their new holiday items are invited for $20 per vendor. An additional $5 will be charged for those who need a table.
The public is invited to attend for free.
For information, call Yvonne at 840-8463 or the church office at 724-5338.
•••
Families invited to volunteer to kick off the giving season
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — The Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, in partnership with fellow nonprofits, is inviting individuals of all ages to kick off the season of giving by joining with families across the nation for Family Volunteer Day on Saturday.
A number of volunteer projects are available throughout Santa Cruz County, such as cleaning beaches, beautifying neighborhoods, helping with local event prep or restoring local wetlands.
“I love organizing projects that bring families together to connect with community needs in a fun way. Family Volunteer Day is an all-around feel-good event and each and every project is important,” said Melissa Miketa, a Volunteer Center AmeriCorps fellow who will be leading a project to develop and distribute stars for the Adopt a Family Program at the Santa Cruz Volunteer Center on Saturday.
Additional organizations leading projects include Santa Cruz County Parks and Recreation, Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, Save Our Shores, Toys for Toys Santa Cruz County, UCSC Arboretum, Walnut Avenue Family and Women’s Center, and Watsonville Wetlands Watch.
Most projects run from two to three hours and start between 10 or 11 a.m.
To view and register for the projects, visit the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County website at scvolunteercenter.org.
•••
Shelter taking in animals affected by fire
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter is providing no-cost boarding to animals affected by the Camp Fire in Northern California.
The Camp Fire, raging in the town of Paradise and its outskirts, has so far killed 56 people and scorched 140,000 acres, is one of the state’s most deadliest fires.
As part of its Safekeep Program, the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter has already taken in several animals whose guardians are staying with family or friends in the county, according to the shelter.
For information, or to make a donation to the shelter, visit www.scanimalshelter.org.
•••
Local author to sign copies of new Western book
WATSONVILLE — Author Jesse J Elliot will be signing books Saturday at Kelly’s Books, 1838 Main St. in Watsonville, from 1-3 p.m.
Attendees can meet the Watsonville author and purchase her new book, an anthology of Western writers, called “Untamed West.”
Elliot (aka Julie Hanks, Ph.D.) writes about what she has always loved, the Old West, but unlike writing about the usual male hero in the Old West, her stories always have a strong female protagonist. She has had nine short stories published in Frontier Tales and Ropes and Saddle and a new story is scheduled for publication in 2019. She has had two novels published, and two additional short stories appeared in anthologies. The most recent short story, “New Beginnings” is in the new anthology, “Untamed West.”
“Untamed West” is in a collection of 29 tales of the Old West, featuring new stories by such classic Western writers as James Reasoner, Cheryl Pierson and MacKendree Long.
•••
Golden 1 Credit Union seeking scholarship applicants
SACRAMENTO — Golden 1 Credit Union announced the continuation of its scholarship program, which will award $400,000 in scholarships to qualified applicants this year.
The application period will remain open until Jan. 31.
Golden 1 Scholarships provide members and their dependents up to $20,000 to attend full-time accredited, nonprofit colleges and universities in California. Recipients are selected based on their academic achievements, community involvement, extracurricular activities, and their educational and career goals.
Eligible applicants must have earned a 3.0 or higher grade point average, maintained involvement in extracurricular activities for a minimum of 24 hours over the last year, and be a current Golden 1 member or dependent of a member for a minimum of one year.
For information, visit www.golden1.com/scholarships/default.
•••
Volunteers needed for Castroville Thanksgiving meal
CASTROVILLE — The North Monterey County LULAC Council will host its annual Castroville Thanksgiving Feast where more than 1,000 community members, half of which are children, will be served a traditional Thanksgiving meal from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 22.
The meal will be served at the Castroville Community Center, 11261 Crane St.
The Thanksgiving Feast has been a tradition for more than 26 years that was started by the Cava family to help families who may not have the means to prepare a holiday meal, and for community members who do not want to be alone on Thanksgiving Day.
Adult and teenage volunteers are needed on Wednesday from 1-4 p.m., and on Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. to help set up, bus tables, serve, wash dishes and clean.
Those who are interested in volunteering can sign up by Monday by visiting bit.ly/2018CastrovilleThanksgivingFeast.
Monetary donations are also needed. If you would like to contribute, make checks payable to NMC LULAC and mail to P.O. Box 1359, Castroville, CA 95012.
For information, email [email protected].
•••
Bay Federal accepting applications for scholarships
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — Bay Federal Credit Union is now accepting applications for its 2019 Education Scholarship contest.
Three winners will each receive $1,500 to pay for post-secondary education expenses at any accredited college, university, trade/technical school or career education program.
The deadline for submissions is Feb. 1.
The scholarship application must be submitted with supplemental documents and an original essay that answers these questions: What do you consider to be the most important financial problem faced by people in your community? Why? What should be done about it?
Eligible applicants must have earned a high school diploma or GED certificate by Aug. 1, 2019, and have a Membership Savings Account with Bay Federal Credit Union when submitting their applications. The application and additional information are available at www.bayfed.com/scholarship and at all Bay Federal Credit Union branches.
