Good deeds in the Midlands: Sunday

Creating harmony: Brothers Jack and Henry Tomsu have decided to do a different service project each year. This summer they collected items for Project Harmony, a nonprofit agency that provides services to abused children. First, though, they toured the agency's facility, planned the event and made fliers for it. The boys served homemade breakfast treats and juice to family and friends who dropped off donated items at the family's Elkhorn neighborhood home. Nine-year-old Jack and 8-year-old Henry then delivered the donations to Project Harmony. The boys are the sons of Scott and Tami Tomsu.

For Special Olympics I: TD Ameritrade employees have volunteered as members of the Pack-Em Up Team supporting Team Nebraska, the 291 athletes and coaches who will participate in the 2010 USA National Special Olympics Games. The Pack-Em Up Team worked Friday and will work again Monday at Victory Marine Warehouse in Fremont, Neb. The crews pack and label duffel bags that include clothing, uniforms, water bottles and more. The bags will be transported to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln dorm rooms where the athletes will be staying. The Olympics will run July 19-23.

For Special Olympics II: Talent Plus Inc. of Lincoln scaled down its Freedom Fest fireworks celebration this year. Savings from having a smaller event will go to support the 2010 USA National Special Olympics Games in Lincoln. In addition to financial help, 31 Talent Plus associates will volunteer a total of 320 hours during the Olympics.

For Special Olympics III: Students in two Seward, Neb., Southeast Community College programs teamed with staff to build ceremonial platforms for the 2010 USA National Special Olympics Games. Architectural-engineering technology and building construction technology students and staff worked with some citizens of Seward County to build 10 sets of ceremonial stands for the games. Members of the Seward Kiwanis Club and the Seward Helping Hands Kiwanis Club worked on painting the platforms.

Dining as disaster aid: You can help Nebraska families affected by flooding by dining Tuesday at Runza restaurants. The 67 locations in central and eastern Nebraska (Holdrege and east) will donate 10 percent of Tuesday's sales — dine in and drive-through — to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to help those affected by disasters like the recent flooding.

Nothing fishy here: Girls Inc. of Omaha will have a Stop the Violence Teen Fish Fry from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the Girls Inc. facility at 2811 N. 45th St. Tickets, $10, must be purchased in advance for a meal of catfish filet, spaghetti, green beans, dinner roll and dessert. Tickets are available at Girls Inc.

Biking for Boyer: Roll out your bike and strap on your helmet for Saturday's annual Bike to Boyer ride. It includes 26-, 46- or 66-mile tours and an eight-mile Family Fun Ride. Riders will depart from the Fort Calhoun (Neb.) Fire Hall, where a pancake breakfast will be open to the public from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Pre-registration forms for the distance rides are available online at www.friendsofboyerdesoto.org. Proceeds will be used for wildlife conservation efforts at Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge through the Friends of Boyer Chute and DeSoto National Wildlife Refuges. Distance rides start at 8 a.m.; the Family Fun Ride starts at 8:30 a.m. For more information, contact Lori Amberg at 402-426-1353 or clamberg@huntel.net.

A splashing good hand, perhaps: The fourth annual Carter Lake Poker Run on the Lake will be from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Check-in will be from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. at 520 Coronado Circle. The cost per hand is $10 with no limit. The last hand must be picked up before 4:30 p.m. A dinner will follow at Mabrey Park in Carter Lake. Proceeds will go to the Carter Lake Preservation Society.

Celebrating freedom: The Central Nebraska Council on Alcoholism and Addictions will have its third annual fundraising Freedom Ride on Saturday. The event in Grand Island, Neb., also celebrates the freedom that many individuals and families experience in recovery from alcoholism and other addictions. Everyone is welcome at this family-friendly event. The 150-mile ride will begin at Harley Davidson Central, 2719 S. Locust St., with the Pancake Man serving from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Vehicles will leave at 10 a.m. and return about 3:30 p.m. for a barbecue at Grace Abbott Park. Cost for the whole day's event is $25 a person (includes meals). Individual events are $5 a person for the Pancake Man only and $7 a person for the barbecue only. For more information, to contribute or to register, contact the council at 308-385-5520 or www.cncaa.net.

Who-o-o-o will ride? The Owl Ride, a nighttime urban cycling adventure, will begin and end Saturday at Lewis & Clark Landing on the Omaha riverfront. Riders can choose between a 16-mile or seven-mile course through downtown, Midtown, Dundee, Aksarben, Field Club and Old Market neighborhoods. The noncompetitive ride is for both casual and serious riders. A Playing With Fire concert will be at Lewis & Clark Landing before the 11 p.m. ride. Registration, $25 for individuals or $50 for families, can be done online at www.owlride.com. Proceeds will benefit the Meyer Foundation for Disabilities, which helps people with developmental disabilities served by the University of Nebraska Medical Center Munroe-Meyer Institute.

Dog days of summer: Dogtopia of Omaha will have a charity dog wash from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. July 18 at its location, 13239 Portal Drive in La Vista. Proceeds will benefit the Omaha Police Department's K-9 Unit; members of the K-9 Unit will be there. Activities will include dog baths, a grill out, bake sale, silent auction and raffle. A $10 donation is suggested per wash. Several local pet rescues will be there with adoptable dogs.

No box social: A fundraiser for Victory Boxing Club will be July 24 at the South Omaha YMCA, 3010 R St. It's billed as “Fight the Good Fight Victory Banquet.” Tickets for the 7 p.m. dinner and speakers are $30. For tickets or more information, contact the Rev. Servando Perales: 612-8491 or sperales@metroymca.org.

Helping a patient: A bank fund has been established to help Jerry McMurphy with medical expenses for a double lung transplant. Contributions will be accepted in his name at any First National Bank office.

Free tickets: The AdventureLied Performance Fund program wants to distribute tickets to organizations and programs beyond Lincoln. The program brings Nebraskans to the Lied Center in Lincoln with free tickets to children and students who otherwise would not be able to attend shows at the Lied Center. Tickets are assigned first come, first served; a limited quantity is available. If a program in your area would benefit, send the group's information to Lindsay Carr at lcarr@unlnotes.unl.edu. Carr is on the board of the Friends of Lied.

Won't you help? Volunteers are needed when Offutt Air Force Base conducts a disaster drill Aug. 14. A simulated plane crash will help the base, local first responders and other response teams test their emergency plans. Volunteers will be asked to play crash victims who will be “painted” with makeup that depicts an injury, victims who will be processed through a mock decontamination unit and relatives of victims who will help test the plans for a Family Assistance Center. Volunteers serving as victims must be at least 19. Younger volunteers may participate as relatives if a parent or guardian also is participating as a volunteer family member. The registration deadline is Aug. 5. Visit www.volunteersolutions.org/omaha to sign up. Questions? Call 522-7933. On Aug. 14, volunteers will be needed from 7 a.m. to about 3 p.m. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Volunteers who don't have a valid active duty, retiree or dependent military ID card will be required to complete a form, which will be available at the mandatory orientation session.

Doing good deeds: Omahans Brandon Carlson, 7, and Sean Everson, 17, were honored recently for their work on behalf of others. Brandon raised more than $1,200 for Food Bank for the Heartland by making and selling Christmas ornaments. Everson built 10 sanitary latrines for villagers in the Dominican Republic. The two stood out among more than 27,000 nominees nationwide and received $1,000 scholarships toward post-secondary education through the 2010 Kohl's Kids Who Care Scholarship Program, run by Kohl's Department Stores.

Righting a wrong: Big Brain Productions, a tattoo studio in Omaha, recently turned a business mishap into a good deed. Due to a manufacturer's design change, Big Brain received 5,000 bottles of water that contained a major spelling error on the label. Although the manufacturer apologized and replaced the water, Big Brain was unable to use the bottles as intended. The 5,000 bottles of water were donated to Together Inc., an Omaha agency that serves people in need.

A lifetime of memories: Grant Johnson, an 11-year-old Omaha boy with life-threatening renal failure, had the wish of his young life granted — thanks to Kids Wish Network. At age 1, Grant had a kidney transplant from his father, Michael. Grant has weekly shots to battle anemia and monthly blood tests. He also is deaf and had surgery at 3 to put in a cochlear implant. When asked what he wished for, Grant said he wanted to visit Walt Disney World and other theme parks in Florida. “We did it all,” said Grant's mother, Kathleen Johnson. “Everything was fabulous.” The trip was made possible through donations from local civic groups.

Volunteer in Africa: Michael Lynch of Omaha was one of three students at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S.D., to go on a school-sponsored multiweek mission trip to Tanzania. He and others performed community service projects and visited AIDS, HIV and cancer patients in the local hospice program.

Using her specialty: Dr. Judy Burnfield recently returned from helping earthquake victims in Haiti. She is a physical therapist and director of the Institute for Rehabilitation Sciences and Engineering and the Movement and Neurosciences Center at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln. She treated individuals with amputations, fractures, head injuries and other traumas. She also led a workshop for health care workers that dealt with rehabilitation of individuals with amputations.

Compiled by Sue Story Truax

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