Prayer vigil set for Saturday

DURHAM -- A prayer vigil hosted by the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham to honor the life of Charles Nero will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday in the sanctuary of Asbury Temple United Methodist Church, 201 S Alston Ave.

Nero was stabbed to death on April 22. He was 34 years old.

The vigil will be led by Reverend Gaston Warner, Duke University Chapel minister and member of Asbury Temple UMC. The public is invited.

The purpose of the prayer vigils for homicide victims is to honor the lives of the victims, to offer comfort to their families, friends and neighbors and to be present together in love.

For more information call Marcia Owen at (919) 358-1113 or e-mail mowen8@nc.rr.com .

BounceBack Kids open house Sat.

DURHAM -- BounceBack Kids, a local nonprofit created to enrich the lives of children with serious medical conditions and their families through free year-round recreational, athletic and social activities offered in a supportive and medically save environment, is holding an open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Emily Krzyzewski Center, 904 W. Chapel Hill St.

For more information, visit http://bouncebackkids.org/ or e-mail info@bouncebackkids.org.

To RSVP for Saturday's open house, e-mail or e-mail info@bouncebackkids.org.

BounceBack Kids offers individual and group sports training including basketball skills instruction and personal fitness training, recreational and social activities including trips to sporting events, museums, bowling, arts and crafts and other programs, and a college planning guide and support services.

Visitors on Saturday will have a chance to meet board and staff members, interact with participants who will answer questions and share their experiences and enjoy free refreshments and children's activities.

Spanish translators will also be on hand.

World AIDS Day event set Dec. 1

DURHAM -- Durham County will host a World AIDS Day 2009 event on Dec. 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Hayti Heritage Center, 804 Old Fayetteville St.

At the close of 2008, Durham had the third highest HIV infestion rate in North Carolina, with 1,340 people here living with AIDS or HIV.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is a day of celebration, health education, and an annual commitment to the prevention and treatment of AIDS/HIV in Durham.

World AIDS Day supports the access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support as a human right.

The local event will include entertainment, testimonials, food, and a candlelight vigil to recognize those lost and raise social consciousness about AIDS/HIV.

HIV testing will be offered at the event.

For more information, e-mail Randy Rogers at rrogers@durhamcountync.gov.

Retired coach, Lee, to speak

DURHAM -- The Durham Sports Club will meet at noon today at Croasdaile Country Club.

The guest speaker will be Billy Lee, longtime head basketball coach at Campbell University. In addition to Campbell, he has coached at East Carolina, UNC Pembroke and retired after the 2007-08 season at St. Andrew's Presbyterian College.

Guests are invited. The guest fee is $20 per person and includes lunch.

UNC Chapel Hill baseball coach Mike Fox will be the guest speaker at the club's Dec. 2 meeting.

Also, the club's Dec. 16 meeting will be closed to the public, and members must sign-up for that meeting at this week's meeting or the Dec. 2 meeting.

Roundtable talk set for Thursday

DURHAM -- The Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham's Community Luncheon Roundtable has been moved up a week because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

The public is invited to the roundtable from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday at The Shepherd's House United Methodist Church, 107 N Driver St.

The topic of the day will be the East Durham Children's Initiative and the city's Human Relations Commission.

BCBS toolkits tackle obesity

CHAPEL HILL -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will distribute 500 toolkits to pediatricians statewide as part of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association's Pediatric Obesity and Diabetes Prevention Pilot Program.

The toolkit, which encourages kids to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily and get at least one hour of physical activity, was developed with the American Diabetes Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, the prevalence of obesity among children ages 6 to 11 has more than doubled in the past 20 years, from 6.5 percent in 1980 to 17 percent in 2006.

Contact Mark Donovan at mdonovan@heraldsun.com or (919) 419-6655. E-mail news of interest to our readers to news@heraldsun.com.