April is Child Abuse Awareness Month, and United Family Services is selling flower seeds as part of a campaign to raise awareness of the pervasive crime. These “Seeds of Hope” have been donated by Lowe’s and are available at participating local businesses this month.

“We hope that, as people plant flowers in their yards this spring, they will think about children and families impacted by child abuse, and about the support United Family Services offers those children,” said Kathryn Firmin-Sellers, United Family Services Lake Norman region director. Read the full story

By EMILY MATRAS
Davidson College Communications

Davidson celebrities will soon get a chance to further their positive impact on the community – from behind bars. On Wednesday, April 4, Davidson College will host “Lock-Up to Lock Out Domestic Violence,” to raise money for construction of a new United Family Services domestic violence shelter in Charlotte.

Prominent Davidson College and community members have volunteered to participate by spending hard time in a makeshift jail constructed in the college’s Alvarez College Union Atrium. From that cell they will place calls to friends, obtaining pledges of “bail” that will benefit the UFS shelter project. Read the full story

Local human rights activists are hosting a three-day event called “Abolish” in Davidson beginning Thursday to raise awareness of global sex trafficking. The event is organized by the Davidson College chapter of the International Justice Mission, a global humanitarian aid organization, and will include a Thursday speech and a Saturday night screening of the documentary “Sex + Money: A National Search for Human Worth” – about the U.S. Read the full story

Our Towns Habitat for Humanity Cornelius ReStore will celebrate its 20th Anniversary with an event called “ReStore ReStored” Saturday, April 14, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The day of family fun and entertainment will show off the newly renovated ReStore on North Main Street. Read the full story

This crew of women enjoyed the festivities and helped raise money for Community Arts Project. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Thursday night’s Taste of Art fundraiser at The Fresh Market off Torrence Chapel Road was a feast for wine-lovers and diners – and a major annual fundraiser for the Community Arts Project. Read the full story

Film about the life of conservationist Aldo Leopold will be shown free at Davidson College

On Friday, March 23, at 7 PM, the Biology Department of Davidson College and the Davidson Lands Conservancy will host a free screening of a new film called “Green Fire,” the first full-length, high definition documentary film ever made about legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold. The film explores Aldo Leopold’s life in the early part of the 20th century and the many ways his ideas about “land ethics” are applied all over the world today. Read the full story

CHARLOTTE – United Way of Central Carolinas said Tuesday it is distributing $173,557 in Critical Need Response Fund grants to nonprofits serving local families and individuals in crisis, including several serving our area.

Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson is getting $7,800, Loaves & Fishes, which has a food pantry at the Ada Jenkins Center, was given $25,000; and United Family Services, which has an area office, will get $7,957. Read the full story

Runners, take your mark: Four local organizations are planning runs this Saturday to benefit different groups, including Angels of ’97, CMS’ Exceptional Children program, the Levine Children’s Hospital, and the Cancer Research Institute. Also, the Community Arts Project’s annual Taste of Art fundraiser is March 22 and Rotary Club of Lake Norman – Huntersville plans its annual Spring Wine Cruise to raise money for different Rotary-sponsored youth programs. Read below for details. Read the full story