When the kids lost their home and belongings, they lost their school supplies. Perhaps you and your kids would consider shopping at Amazon.com for a backpack and supplies (notebook, pens, pencils, markers, etc.) for a child in the hard hit area in

the Rockaways. This is the area where the poorest families live, and where the devastation was the greatest. Add a goodie, such as warm socks or mittens, and a personal note (if you mark the package as a gift you can add a personal note). Have Amazon.com send it to:

Church of St Luke & St Matthew
520 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238

Or drop a backpack with supplies inside in the box in the foyer at First Unitarian Society in Newton, 1326 Washington St, across from the Newton police station. If you send a backpack via Amazon.com, please send an email to Margaret Z. at ma******@*ol.com, so she can keep track of how many backpacks are sent and can tell OccupySandy how many backpacks are coming!

Brookline Music School faculty Scott Pittman hosts a weekly Open Mic Night at Café Nicholas, 1632 Beacon Street, Brookline in Washington Square from 7:00 to 9:00pm for free. Brookline Music School provides a full drum set, amplifiers for bass, gui

tar and keyboard, and two microphones for the evening. All ages and skill levels are welcome to attend and perform.

The Open Mic Night is a place to showcase your talent without the intimidating atmosphere. Invite your friends to watch you do your thing on stage! These shows provide an opportunity for musicians to gain experience performing to a live audience. Brookline Music School welcomes musicians of all ages and levels to this free weekly event. For more information visit www.bmsmusic.org, call Brookline Music School at (617) 277-4593 or Café Nicholas at (617) 739-1114.

Please come to a family dinner and great live music (Loose Change and others) at the Congregational Church, 54 Lincoln Street, in Newton Highlands on December 21, 6PM-12AM. Luke’s Lights was was born of a wish by Luke Voss-Kernan’s

friends and family to spread his light far and wide by buying solar lights for communities in the third world who live off the electrical grid.

Join us for an evening of light and friendship. Our fundraiser on December 21 will be a celebration of Luke’s shimmer and his lightness of being. All proceeds will go towards a project of Unite-to-Light to bring lights to communities around the globe that otherwise live in darkness. For your $20 ticket fee, two lights get sent to someone who cannot yet imagine how his/her life will change. We will also be selling the actual LED lights there for $20 each. You get to keep one; and another one gets sent to someone in need.

Buy tickets here. Sign up to bring potluck food here.

Do you know a parent who feels isolated, lonely or stressed? The holiday season can bring both joy – and stresses – for some families. To help alleviate this stress, The Newton Partnership is continuing to support and promote

a drop-in parent group called Parents Helping Parents. The group met successfully over the last year and is looking to expand the membership to other parents in the community who may benefit from a supportive, anonymous group of parent peers. The group is professionally facilitated and free child care is provided. For more information, please contact Meg Morgan at 617.926.5008 ext. 102

When: Wed., November 28, 6:30-8:00PM
Where: Brigham House, 20 Hartford St., Newton Highlands

PLEASE NOTE CORRECTED EMAIL CONTACT INFORMATION BELOW:

Do you love singing? Do you want to sing with other like-minded teens? Have you been wanting to sing in a co-ed A Cappella group but couldn’t find a teen group to join

? Well then, this is the opportunity for you! A new youth-run singing group is forming, and we are looking for males and females between the ages of 14-18 to audition. Auditions are being held on December 7 and 9. Rehearsals will begin in January and will be determined based upon members’ schedules. Audition decisions will be made by professional musicians, and the youth will receive coaching for the first several weeks from Brookline Music School to provide a foundation. For more information, application and audition schedule please contact Isabel at ************@***il.com“>is**********@***il.com.

Spread some holiday cheer to a senior citizen! Newton at Home, a member non-profit organization dedicated to helping Newton seniors age in their own homes, is looking for volunteers who can help in a variety of ways. We always need drivers who can

give rides to seniors and make a new friend while helping someone get to a doctor’s appointment, the supermarket, a social event or the airport. NAH has a Winter Buddy program to help make sure seniors make it through winter storms, and a variety of other opportunities to use your skills to help others right here in Newton.

Volunteer as much as you can at your convenience, and know that you have made a difference in a Newton senior’s life. You’ll meet interesting people and share great conversation along the way! If you are willing and able to help, please call Julie Plaut Mahoney, Ph.D., Coordinator of Volunteers, Newton at Home 617-795-2560 or vo******@**********me.org.

Have you noticed your daughter feeling depressed? If your child is between the ages of 13 and 18 and has been feeling depressed or has been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, she could receive free cognitive behavioral therapy for 16 weeks

as part of a research study in the Child and Adolescent Mood Disorders Laboratory at McLean Hospital. For more information, please contact Casey Gardiner at 617-855-4240 or at cg*******@************rd.edu.

Newton at Home is a non-profit, membership-based organization that supports older adults who wish to remain living independently and safely in their Newton homes. Once again we are organizing a leaf-raking effort between October 1

5-December 1, 2012. We are looking for families, grandparents with grandchildren, teenagers, and youth groups to commit to one two-hour time period to rake leaves at the home of a Newton elder. You pick the day and time for raking that is convenient for you. Rakes and bags have been donated by Swartz hardware in Nonantum and will be delivered to the raking site. Please contact: Julie Plaut Mahoney, Ph.D., Coordinator of Volunteers, vo******@**********me.org or 617-795-2560 to sign-up and for further information.

Can you help your neighbors shovel snow this winter? Please consider volunteering your time or adding you name to Newton’s paid Snow Shovelers List. The applications for buy viagra no prescription