Pennies and Peanut Butter Can Really Add Up in Aid Drive

The Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County is looking for elementary and middle school students to help the hungry by participating in the Pennies and Peanut Butter Food Drive this month and next. Students, classrooms and entire schools are encouraged to collect pennies, peanut butter and other nonperishable food items to donate.

“We’re able to stretch every penny donated here,” said Mark Hunt, food drive coordinator. “For every 10 cents, the Food Bank can provide a meal for a family of three.”

In previous years, the food drive has brought in more than $2,000 and 9,000 pounds of food. The food drive is also designed to promote hunger awareness among young people.

The Food Bank serves more than 180,000 people each month and provides food to more than 360 charities. The organization will provide literature and food barrels to distribute in schools. For information, call (714) 771-1343.

The Whole Truth

Rabbi Elie Spitz promises to ask Alan Dershowitz provocative questions during the attorney’s Feb. 20 visit to Congregation B’Nai Israel in Tustin. Among the queries: How does Dershowitz justify representing clients like O.J. Simpson, Claus von Bulow, Mike Tyson and Leona Helmsley? Who really won the presidential election? Does he see a future for Jews in America? And, of course, the toughest question: Did Ron Silver’s portrayal of Dershowitz do the attorney justice in the movie “Reversal of Fortune”?

Tickets for the evening event range from $18 to $54. The synagogue is at 2111 Bryan Ave., Tustin. (714) 730-9693.

Kosher, the young leadership division of the Orange County chapter of the American Jewish Committee, also will take on a tough subject during its annual membership dinner tonight at 6:30 at the Center Club in Costa Mesa.

The program, “Being Jewish in Orange County: Living in Two Worlds,” will feature panelists discussing the pressures, challenges and joys of living in a non-Jewish community.”

Tickets are $36 for members. $42 for nonmembers. The Center Club is at 650 Town Center Drive. (949) 660-8525.

If you want truth from the Catholic perspective, you may want to attend a discussion led by the Rev. Kevin Collins, professor of moral theology at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo. He’ll talk about the hottest moral topics facing Catholics, including issues concerning the end of life, bioethics and homosexuality. The event is free and takes place from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday at St. Irenaeus Church in Cypress. St. Irenaeus is at 5201 Evergreen Ave. (714) 826-0760.

Promises to Keep

If you’re planning way ahead, Promise Keepers is coming to town this fall. The venue hasn’t been finalized, but the evangelical men’s ministry--which made headlines in the mid-1990s by filling football stadiums with men singing, crying and offering praise--will hold an event in Anaheim on Oct. 19 and 20.

Led by Bill McCartney, the former football coach at the University of Colorado, this year’s event is “Turn the Tide: Living Out an Extreme Faith.”

The theme, organizers say, is inspired by Paul’s letter to the Romans: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

In the last few years, Promise Keepers has lost much of the heady momentum of its early days, resulting in sagging attendance and a downsizing of the organization.

An Orthodox View . . . and More

St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church in Irvine will host its annual four-day Spiritual Odyssey Festival beginning Friday evening. Father Thomas Hopko, dean of St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary in New York and a popular Orthodox speaker and writer, will lead this year’s event, “Love, Transformation and Holiness.” The program is designed to deepen understanding of the Orthodox church, Scriptures and Christian life. The event, including meals, is free and open to the public. St. Paul’s is at 4949 Alton Parkway in Irvine. For more information, see the church’s Web site--https://www.stpaulsirvine .org/odyssey--or call (949) 733-2366.

A Valentine’s date without the kids isn’t out of the question as far as Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church in Anaheim Hills is concerned. The church will offer a service for children 12 and under as a treat for parents who would like to have a pre-Valentine’s Day date to themselves. The Friday night event, which includes singing and dancing to live music, storytelling, arts and crafts, and a scavenger hunt, is set from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Dinner will be provided. Suggested donation is $5. RSVP by Tuesday. The church is at 101 S. Chaparral Court. (714) 283-4633.

The Christian Women’s Club of Buena Park-Garden Grove will host a “Lasting Memories” luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at the Holiday Inn-Buena Park. Debbie Wong will speak on “How to Make the Move From Fear to Freedom.” Wong will also provide music. There will be a laser photo restoration demonstration. Cost is $14.50. The Holiday Inn is at 7000 Beach Blvd. (714) 772-8186.

The annual Raitt Mission series, with the Rev. Tim Fearer, will take place Sunday through Wednesday at Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Santa Ana. Fearer, who served as director of adult education from 1986 to 1993, will preach on “Foundations of Freedom.” He is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and Claremont Graduate School and serves as pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Port Heuneme. The series began in 1945 by the Raitt family in honor of Bible class teacher Eva Brocket Raitt. The church is at 13922 N. Prospect Ave. (714) 544-7850.

Temple Isaiah of Newport Beach is celebrating the fruits of the Earth this weekend. The temple will commemorate Tu Be’Shevat, Jewish Arbor Day, at 8 p.m. Friday, followed by a reception with flowers, songs and blessings. Tu Be’Shevat marks the beginning of the tithes of fruit. It is customary to eat various fruits and recite Psalm 104. On Thursday, Hebrew school students will celebrate in their classes by bringing plants and flowers and participating in a Seder. Temple Isaiah is at 2401 Irvine Ave. (949) 548-6900.

The UCI Humanities Center will present “Teaching About Religion in a Religiously Diverse Classroom” from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday. There will be a panel discussion featuring International Academy of Buddhism Director Ananda Guruge, Council on Islamic Education founder Shabbir Mansuri, UCLA Center for the Study of Religion Director S. Scott Bartchy, among others. The event is free and will take place in Humanities Instruction Building 100. (949) 824-7913.

Religious event notices may be sent to Gena Pasillas at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa 92626. They also may be faxed to (714) 966-7711 or sent by e-mail to gena.pasillas@latimes.com

-- WILLIAM LOBDELL, GENA PASILLAS