Benefit

Tri-State Fellowship Church, at 13153 Cearfoss Pike, Hagerstown, will hold a Zumbathon charity event Saturday, May 12, from 2 to 4 p.m. The doors open at 1:30 p.m. Tickets cost $12 for adults and $8 for those ages 10  to 17 (children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian). No child care will be available. Prize drawings will be held during midbreak and at the end of the event. Participants must be present to win.  Proceeds benefit the Hagerstown Area Pregnancy Center.

A gospel concert will be held Sunday, March 27, at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Hagerstown. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Hagerstown Community College Hawk Booster Club. Concert participants include choirs from local churches, soloists and handbell ringers. Tickets cost $10 each and may be purchased from any HCC Booster Club member, at the event or by calling 301-790-2800, ext. 289.

More than 200 quilts will be on view, plus vendors, demonstrations, door prizes and raffle quilts, at a fundraiser to benefit the Hagerstown Community College Lady Hawks scholarship fund. The show will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 17, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 18. at the HCC Athletic, Recreation and Community Center, off Robinwood Drive, east of Hagerstown. Admission is $5; free for children younger than 12. Call 301-791-7844.

The Maryland Agriculture Education Foundation Inc. invites the community to attend an evening of support for agricultural education.   The event will be Tuesday, Sept. 27, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Barn at Springfield Farm, 14 Springfield Lane in Williamsport. The event will feature a Wild in Western Maryland Dinner, offering local beef, pork, lamb, goat, local sweet corn, new red potatoes and fresh-baked apple dumplings. There will be a live and silent auction, and the local bluegrass band Fertile Soil will provide the music for the evening.

The fourth annual Jen Kelly Memorial Ride to benefit Breast Cancer Awareness of the Cumberland Valley is 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 29, at Improved Order of Red Men Conococheague Tribe 84, 16128 Lappans Road, Williamsport. Registration is from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Kickstands up at 12:15 p.m. Ride goes to Blondie's in Rouzerville, Pa. A comfort break lasts for 1 hour, before riding back to  Williamsport for lunch, live entertainment and raffles. The afterparty begins at 3 p.m. and is open to everyone.

Waynesboro Area Senior High School students will spend seven hours on their feet Saturday, May 12, to benefit The Four Diamonds Fund and pediatric cancer patients at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. Waynesboro's Mini-THON is based on Penn State University's annual dance marathon, the largest student-run philanthropy in the nation. Mini-THONs were started in 1993-94 by students wanting to support The Four Diamonds Fund before college and have raised more than $4 million since their inception.

The Hagerstown Suns will hold Habitat for Humanity Night at the ball park Friday. The game starts at 7:05 at Municipal Stadium. Fireworks will be included after the game. Tickets cost $10 each and include the game, a Suns hat and Chipotle voucher worth $11. $3.75 of each ticket goes to Habitat for Humanity of Washington County. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Go to web.minorleaguebaseball.com or call 301-791-6266 and mention Habitat.

The annual Holiday Abracadabra will be held Saturday, Nov. 24 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Apollo Civic Theater in Martinsburg. The event features the magic of Michael T, illusionist Mario Orsini, comedy of Haywire, the magic of David Wayne, face painting and balloons by Susie the Clown and Joe Santoro's Wonderment Puppet Dance. Tickets cost $7 for adults and $4 students in advance or $8 and $5 at the door. To order tickets, call 304-279-2858 or 304-260-9382. Proceeds benefit the Apollo.

Joseph Hancock Park, just off of Main Street in Hancock, is the setting for the fifth annual Western Maryland Half Marathon and 5K to benefit Habitat for Humanity. Both races take place on the Western Maryland Rail Trail. Runners can sign up by downloading the registration forms at www.habitat-wc.org or sign up online at www.active.com . Walkers are welcome in the 5K. For more information, call 301-791-9009.

On Saturday, a group of hikers and bicyclists will be hiking or riding to raise funds for the Hagerstown Area Religious Council and its work in the community. The hikers will meet at 6 a.m. at Hagerstown Church of the Brethren for the hike that starts at Gambrill State Park at 6:30 a.m. The bikers will meet and start at 8 a.m. at Williamsport High School. Bicyclists have the option of riding 20 miles or 37 miles on the Hanging Rock Loop and hikers can hike 15 or 27 miles on the Catoctin Trail.

Luke Badley was 6 years old riding along with his family when he noticed the long fenced bridge spanning across I-70 and asked his dad what it was. It was the Appalachian Trail overpass that hikers use to cross the busy highway. Badley's father told him about the roughly 2,200-mile trail from Georgia to Maine and how some people known as thru-hikers attempt to hike it end-to-end. It was then that Badley, now 23, of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., decided that one day, he would do that. “I was like, oh, Georgia to Maine.

The parishioners of St. John's Episcopal Church announced the recipients of this year's Mayfest fundraiser. Proceeds will be divided among four nonprofit organizations: • St. Etienne's Family Relief Fund - benefiting the families of a church in rural Haiti where there is no free public education • Hagerstown Area Religious Council - a nonprofit organization that coordinates all the churches in the area in expanding outreach • Community...

The CASA River Century Charity Bike Ride is Saturday, starting and finishing at the Butcher Center at Shepherd University. Cycling routes of 25, 50 and 100 miles are available, with the 50- and 100-mile routes touring the most scenic parts of Berkeley and Jefferson counties. All registration and route information can be found at www.casarivercentury.org; online registration will remain open until noon Wednesday. Registration for the 100-mile ride must be done in advance, but registrants for the 50- and 25-mile routes will be accepted Friday from 4 to 9 p.m. at Shepherd University's Wellness Center and Saturday beginning at 5:30 a.m. at the Butcher Center.

A Better Shredder will host a free shredding event for the public from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 18, in the parking lot of Pen-Mar Regional Association of REALTORS at 300 Cameo Drive, Hagerstown. A donation for the shredding is requested and all proceeds will benefit Safe Place, Washington County Child Advocacy Center. Their mission is to provide all reported victims of child sexual abuse in Washington County and their caretakers with forensic interviews, medical treatment, and mental health treatment with a goal of preventing future abuse.

The sixth annual Bark for Life of Washington County raised more than $2,200 to help fight cancer, said Cathy Beckley-Thomas, the American Cancer Society's community manager for Washington County. Beckley-Thomas said 48 dogs were registered, which is a record for the local event. In addition to walking a lap around Fairgrounds Park, participants could compete in several contests, including ones for best-dressed dog and best trick.

Thirteen and a half years ago, Brittney Mazie benefited from March of Dimes' services as she laid in a hospital incubator connected to an oxygen machine and heart monitor. Just 3 pounds when she was born, Brittney spent three months in Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., during what her mother called a “very scary” time. “In the hospital, March of Dimes contacted me to see if they could be of any help,” said Andrea Mazie, Brittney's mother. On Sunday, Brittney wanted to walk in the March of Dimes March for Babies fundraiser at Norlo Park to help babies in similar situations.

With his toes crunched together in red high heels, Daryl Ewan of Amberson, Pa., tried to maintain his precarious balance wobbling four blocks down Main Street Chambersburg in Friday's Walk a Mile in Her Shoes. “I have a few blisters, but it was worth it,” he said. Approximately 125 men wedged their feet into women's high heels and walked in the first Women in Needs (WIN) Walk a Mile in Her Shoes on Friday. The event was a symbolic gesture to raise awareness on the issue of violence against women.

Springfield Middle holding fundraisers to send DI team to Globals in Tennessee The Springfield Middle School Destination Imagination team will hold fundraisers to help fund its trip to the Destination Imagination Globals later this month at the University of Tennessee. School officials said registration fees, lodging and transportation for the team to participate will exceed $5,000.  It is holding the following fundraisers to help raise money for the trip: Sunday - Car wash at Advance Auto Parts on Virginia Avenue, 11 a.m  to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 11 - Jersey Mike's, all day Monday, May 13 - Buffalo Wild Wings, 6 to 9 p.m. For more information, call Bonnie Fletcher, DI coordinator, at 301-766-8389, ext. 77071

With health care costs on the rise, Washington County employees will be paying about 10 percent more on average for their share, starting July 1, county officials said Tuesday. The county Board of Commissioners unanimously approved proposed health benefit changes for fiscal year 2013-14, which will result in a typical increase of $12.53 per month, or a little more than $6 per paycheck, according to Stephanie Stone, the county's Director of Health and Human Services. “I don't think we have much choice but to raise it,” Commissioner William B. McKinley said.