Fox Valley briefs

Nobel Peace nominee to speak at MCC

Kathy Kelly, three time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, will speak at McHenry County College's conference center at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21. In her presentation, "Witness to War: Injustice From Palestine to Pakistan," she will speak about her personal experiences in the war zones. She is co-founder and coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence and a renowned world peace activist. The program is cosponsored by McHenry County Pax Christi, McHenry County Peace Coalition, and SPAN (MCC's student peace group). For details, call (815) 455-3683 or e-mail lib4paz@comcast.net.

School seeks donations

Hampshire's Gary D. Wright Elementary School is partnering with the union that represents teacher's aides and other school support staff to assemble care packages for servicemen stationed abroad. The school is asking the community to donate pens, paper, magazines, toiletries, imperishable snacks, CDs, DVDs and other items. This month, donation boxes will be at the school, 1500 Ketchum Road; Rose Garden Family Restaurant, 199 S. State St.; and Block Brothers, 199 Mill Ave. The school is also inviting the community to attend its Veterans Day commemoration at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the school. Call (847) 683-5700.

Swine flu and you

The McHenry County Department of Health has a call center and Web page for those who need more information about the H1N1 flu outbreak, symptoms and prevention. That phone number is (815) 334-4510, and you can view the site at mcdh.info. Moreover, the department will send out mailers detailing similar information. There also is a call center in place at Centegra Health System. That number is (815) 236-8347.