Events | Canceled | Donations

EVENTS

A "ROCKIN' REMEMBRANCE"

Awful Arthur’s and EventZone are partnering with area bands for a fundraiser Thursday in downtown Roanoke. All proceeds will benefit the Virginia Tech Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. Details are:

• What: ''Here’s To The Hokies: Roanoke Rockin’ Remembrance''
• Where: Elmwood Park
• When: Noon to 2 p.m., free. 4 to 11 p.m., $5 donation at the door. Children ages 12 and younger will be admitted free.
• Who: The midday concert will feature The Kind, Groova Scape and Electric Chameleon. The afternoon and evening concert will feature Half Moon, Chinese Fire Drill, Shayar & Krooshal Force, The Pop Rivets, Hot Like Cajun, Illbotz, Built To Write, Mid Atlantic Kingz, Crobar Cane, Drivn TK-421, and Jerry Wimmer.
• Volunteers needed: EventZone is in need of volunteers to help staff the event. Shifts are noon to 2 p.m. (only a few needed), 4 to 6:30 p.m., 6:30 to 9 p.m. and 9 to 11 p.m. To sign up, e-mail katie@eventzone.org.

Lincoln Terrace pupils holding Tech 'Tree-bute' Lincoln Terrace Elementary first- and second-graders will celebrate National Arbor Day on Friday and honor Virginia Tech during a "Tree-bute" at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center. At noon, the pupils, their teachers, volunteers and Hotel Roanoke’s Care Committee will tie orange and maroon ribbons around trees at the hotel and have a tree planting ceremony.

The Meadowbrook Center in eastern Montgomery County will dedicate a "Hokie Shelter" picnic area on Saturday. According to a press release from the Mountain Valley Charitable Foundation, more than 100 Tech students have volunteered over the past six months at Meadowbrook to help paint, landscape and convert an outside storage building into a picnic shelter. On Saturday, as part of the university’s "Hometown Healing Project," students will return to Meadowbrook to plant maroon and orange flowers to remember the 32 students and faculty killed April 16. The planting will begin at 9:30 a.m. and all are welcome to help. The Hokie Shelter dedication will take place at 11 a.m. during Meadowbrook Garden Day, an all-day community event.

Fleet Feet Sports and the Star City Striders are holding a community walk/run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. April 29 to honor the Virginia Tech community and the victims of the shootings. The event will be held at the Patrick Henry High School track to honor the Virginia Tech community and the victims of the shootings. Participants can run or walk on the track or neighboring trails. There are no entry fees, T-shirts, awards or timing clock. Donations will be accepted for the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.

Salem Avalanche baseball On Saturday, Virginia Tech students and faculty with a valid Tech ID card will be admitted for free to the game in honor of the first of two "Hokie Nation Nights" planned for the season. Game time is 7:07 p.m. Friday and Monday through May 3, 6:07 p.m. Saturday, and 2:07 p.m. Sunday. Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium. For more information, call 389-3333 or visit salemavalanche.com.

Hokie Sale Smiling Bulldog will have a sale of its Virginia Tech products from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday at the Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce Expo in Radford. The sale will be at the old Kmart building across from Kroger in the Radford Shopping Plaza. Of every sale, $5 will be donated to the Hokie Memorial Fund.

Community Grief Gatherings will be held in the Roanoke and New River valleys this week to give residents an opportunity to come together, share their feelings and reactions related to the Virginia Tech tragedy and to begin the process of healing. The gathering is not a memorial service or vigil. Discussions will be facilitated by mental health professionals, but individual counseling will not be provided at the gathering.

Roanoke Valley gatherings

7 to 8:30 p.m. April 24 and April 26 at each of the following locations:

• Friendship Retirement Community Residents’ Center, 397 Hershberger Road, N.W.
• Second Presbyterian Church Chapel, 214 Mountain Ave., S.W.
• Lewis-Gale Center for Behavioral Health Pavilion Gymnasium, 1902 Braeburn Drive, Salem.

Roanoke events are sponsored by Mental Health America of Roanoke Valley and United Way of Roanoke Valley. Call the office of Mental Health America at (540) 344-0931 for more information.

New River Valley gatherings

• 7 to 9 p.m. April 24, Floyd United Methodist Church, 417 E. Main St., Floyd.
• 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 24, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 706 Harding Ave., Blacksburg
• 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 25, First United Methodist Family Life Center, 3rd Street, N.W., Pulaski
• 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 26, Presbyterian Church of Radford, corner of 4th and Randolph

New River Valley events are sponsored by the Mental Health Association of the New River Valley. For more information, please contact the Mental Health Association at (540) 951-4990.

American Red Cross wants to maintain Roanoke-area blood levels after this week’s tragedy. There will be a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Roanoke Civic Center, held in conjunction with National & Global Youth Service Day.

The United Behavioral Health customer service line will be available 24/7 at no charge to Blacksburg and Southwest Virginia residents. The Help Line at (866) 342-6892 is staffed by experienced master’s-level counselors.

The Roanoke Vet Center offers veterans and their family members an opportunity to speak to a counselor. The center is at 350 Albemarle Ave., Roanoke. Call 342-9726.

CIGNA Behavioral Health is offering behavioral health professionals for free telephone consultation services to the Virginia Tech community and to Blacksburg residents. Call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, (866) 440-8387.

"April in Paris" happens Thursday, April 26 at Hotel Roanoke. The United Way has decided to split the proceeds of the $75 per ticket event with VT United in Caring.

Blood Drive: Virginia Geotechnical Services, now the Richmond branch of S&ME, is partnering with Virginia Blood Services to hold a special blood drive event to honor the victims of this week's tragedy.

To encourage blood donations throughout the central Virginia area, S&ME will donate $10 to the VA Tech Family Fund for each of the first 150 pints of blood donated from April 20-27 at any central Virginia VBS donor location. This tragedy points out that it is only blood on the shelves that helps in an emergency. For more information, call 359-5100 or visit www.vablood.org

Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare is setting up a temporary emergency response center at the Courtyard Marriott, 3301 Ordway Drive off Hershberger Road. Counseling staff will be on site from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. each evening through April 24. Hospitality staff will be there from 6 a.m. to midnight each day. Call the emergency center at (540) 266-9201.

CANCELED

The New River Valley Symphony concert scheduled for Saturday, April 28, at Burruss Hall on the Virginia Tech campus has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond the control of the Virginia Tech Music Department. Refunds for tickets already purchased can be obtained by calling the UUSA Ticket Office in Squires Student Center at Virginia Tech at 231-5615.

This weekend of April 21-22's food history symposium, "From Jamestown to the Blue Ridge: Cooking up 400 Years of Culinary History in Virginia" was canceled. It is unclear whether it will be rescheduled. Anyone who has pre-registered and paid for the symposium may call the Continuing and Professional Education Department at Virginia Tech at (540) 231-5182 with questions about refunds.

DONATIONS

Students at Sylvan Learning Centers in Roanoke and Christiansburg can donate Sylvan tokens earned for effort and accomplishments to the Hokie Spirit Fund. From today through May 16, for every 10 tokens a student designates as a donation, Sylvan Learning Center will donate $1 in the name of the students.

The United Way of Roanoke Valley will donate half the proceeds it receives for its April in Paris fundraiser April 26 to the "United in Caring" fund for victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Tickets for April in Paris, which will be available at the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, are $75 per person. Call 777-4200 or e-mail Krista@uwrv.org.

Civitan International has established a memorial fund to remember Ryan Clark, who volunteered at Camp Big Heart in Georgia. The memorial fund will be used to expand the mission of Camp Big Heart. Donations can be made at ryanclarkcivitanfund.org or (800)CIVITAN.

United Way of Montgomery, Radford & Floyd established the United in Caring Fund for Victims of the Virginia Tech Tragedy fund. Contributions may be made via www.unitedwaynrv.org or by mailing gifts to UWMFR, P.O. Box 6202, Christiansburg, Va., 24068. Please indicate that your donation go specifically to this fund. For more information: (540) 381-2066 or stephanie@unitedwaynrv.org.

Hoos for Hokies: The University of Virginia's Alumni Association has established a memorial fund in honor of those who lost their lives. Contributions can be made online. For more information, visit www.virginia.edu/vatechsupport/.

Foundation for Roanoke Valley has set up a School Violence Assistance Fund. Send contributions to School Violence Assistance Fund, c/o Foundation for Roanoke Valley, P.O. Box 1159, Roanoke, Va., 24006. For credit card donations, please contact the foundation at (540) 985-0204. www.foundationforroanokevalley.org.

The Korean American Coalition, the Korean American Students Conference, the Mirae Foundation and the Southern California Korean College Student Association have joined to create the Virginia Tech Memorial Fund. Contributions may be sent to the Korean American Coalition, Attn: VA Tech Memorial Fund, 1001 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Suite 730, Washington, DC 20036.

Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund: Virginia Tech has established the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to aid in the healing process and generate financial support for expenses including grief counseling, memorials, communication expenses, comfort expenses and incidental needs. Contributions can be made online at www.vt.edu/tragedy/memorial_fund.php.

Phones for Life scholarship: Phones for Life, a nonprofit organization headquartered in California, is collecting cellphones and will use 25 percent of the value of the phones gathered this year to create a scholarship to memorialize those killed at Virginia Tech. Each scholarship will be for $5,000 and they will be awarded to one or two high school seniors. To donate cell phones and funs, visit www.phones4life.org or call (888) 211-9722.

The United Way Memorial Fund for Jeremy Herbstritt: The Office of Physical Plant, Centre County United Way and the Nittany Bank on South Atherton, have set up a special fund called "The United Way Memorial Fund for Jeremy Herbstritt." This fund is available for all Penn State students, employees and the entire community to make donations in memory of Jeremy Herbstritt, a Penn State graduate who died in Monday's mass shooting on the Virginia Tech campus. Herbstritt's father is a Penn State employee.

The accumulated funds will be available for Mike and Peg Herbstritt to use as they best see fit. This could be to defray expenses or anything they determine appropriate to provide a memorial to Jeremy. There will be no administrative fee charged for this fund, so 100 percent of donations will go to the Herbstritt family. Contributions can be mailed to the following address: Lloyd Rhoades, 149 Physical Plant Building, University Park, PA 16802.

Anyone wishing to donate by credit card can go to the United Way Web site http://www.ccunitedway.org/index.html online. Make sure to state that the donation is to go to "The Jeremy Herbstritt Memorial Fund."

Virginia Tech Department of Foreign Languages and Literature Memorial Scholarships: The department has established two memorial scholarships for French and German majors at Virginia Tech. Donations may be made payable to the Virginia Tech Foundation, for the Jocelyne Couture-Nowak Scholarship (French) or the Jamie Bishop Scholarship (German). Donors who wish to give online should indicate which scholarship they would like to support. If you have questions about making a gift, contact the Office of University Development at (800) 533-1144 or 902 Prices Fork Road (0336), Blacksburg, Va. 24061. More information can be found on the department's homepage, http://www.fll.vt.edu/.