What you’ve heard about bedbugs infiltrating our region aren’t simply scary news stories. In the past year, ACCESS, a homeless shelter for women in Akron, has seen a rise in bedbug sightings.
To keep them at bay, the agency has taken a proactive step and is upgrading all of its furniture from wood to metal. Unlike wooden beds in which bugs can burrow, metal beds are not a place for them to thrive.
Thanks to the GAR Foundation and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeast Ohio, ACCESS has been able to purchase new beds. Many volunteers have helped paint and clean the rooms, but there’s one last step and that’s redoing all of the flooring.
To help, please consider donating by Aug. 8 to help finish this special one-time project. ACCESS is looking to raise funds to make its dozen rooms feel even more like a home for the women and children it serves.
To donate, visit https://access-shelter.org/support-us/donate.
Events
• Find treasures at WITAN’s (Women in Touch with Akron’s Needs) seventh annual rummage sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1361 W. Market St., Akron.
Items for sale include furniture, clothing, books, toys, jewelry, household goods and sporting equipment.
Proceeds from the rummage sale will go to support WITAN’s funding of grants for area agencies such as Mobile Meals, OPEN M, Oak Clinic for Multiple Sclerosis, Rebuilding Together and CORE Furniture Bank.
WITAN is an Akron-based volunteer organization founded in 1943. Members have donated more than 3 million volunteer hours and granted more than $2.2 million to the community through fundraising efforts.
To donate items, please call Cheryl White at 330-607-5789. For information, visit www.witaninfo.org.
• This year’s “Big Mike Memorial Run” starts at 11 a.m. Sunday at Legends Sports Pub and Grille, 1840 Town Park Blvd., Green.
The run is in memory of Michael Kerr, who was 26 when he died in a motorcycle accident in 2008.
Michael was in his last semester at the Kent State University at Salem. Because he was an organ donor, a donation is made each year to Lifebanc in Michael’s name. Three recipients of Michael’s organs will attend this year’s run, two who live locally and another from New York.
More than 400 motorcycles are expected to participate in the free run this year, which concludes about 4:30 p.m. at Green’s Boettler Park with dinner and a raffle.
For more information or to register, visit www.bigmikememorialrun.com. Registration begins at 9 a.m. at Legends the day of the run.
• The sixth annual Summit County Sexual Assault Symposium will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 1 at the University of Akron.
This year’s event will highlight the growth, bravery and healing of survivors of sexual violence. All advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors, health-care professionals, counselors, social workers, students or anyone interested in survivors of sexual violence are invited to attend.
Registration for the $30 program should be made by Friday.
For more information, visit www.rccmsc.org/1730.aspx or email PaulH@scmcbws.org.
• This is the eighth year that St. Paul Catholic Church is offering a Mass of Thanksgiving and Blessing for all those serving in the nursing profession.
A reception will follow the service, which begins at 7 p.m. Aug. 7 at 1580 Brown St., Akron.
• Friends & Neighbors of Every Woman’s House presents its 23rd annual benefit golf scramble at 8:30 a.m., on Aug. 11 for women and at the same time for men on Aug. 12.
The event, with an entry fee of $75, includes 18 holes of golf with a cart at Mohican Hills Golf Club in Jeromesville.
For more information, visit www.everywomans house.org .
Kim Hone-McMahan can be reached at 330-996-3742 or kmcmahan@thebeaconjournal.com. Find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kim.honemcmahan.