Teens unite to provide ‘A Gift of...

Teens unite to provide ‘A Gift of Giving’

Twelve teens from Save Our Youth, Speak Out! Costa Mesa and

Shalimar Teen Center will join together today as Costa Mesa Teens

Together to participate in Camp Fire’s “A Gift of Giving,” a

service-learning program for youth.

The event will feature skits, a panel of teen parents,

refreshments, games and a raffle. A family life education specialist

will be on hand to answer teens’ questions at a resource booth. The

event will be held from 4 to 7:30 p.m. at the Save Our Youth Center

at 601 Hamilton St.

Post offices accepting

donations for food drive

Area postal workers will collect food donations as they make mail

deliveries on Saturday as part of the largest single-day food drive

in the country, the U.S. Postal Service said.

People who want to participate should leave unopened,

nonperishable food by their mailboxes, and mail carriers will collect

donations and give them to local food banks and charities.

An estimated 30 million Americans, or 10.4% of the country’s

population, depend on food banks for food. The need for donations

grows in the summer because children are home from school and don’t

get breakfast or lunch there, postal service officials said.

Bay receives generous grant from the EPA

The Upper Newport Bay is one of 14 wetland areas that will benefit

from a $200,000 grant recently awarded to the Southern California

Coastal Water Research Project by the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency.

The coastal research group will add $70,000 to the grant and spend

the total on assessing the health of Southern California wetlands in

four counties. Researchers already are conducting tests at 57 sites,

looking at vegetation and landscape conditions. A statement from the

EPA noted that more than 90% of the state’s wetlands have been

converted to urban agricultural or other uses.