“Are We Ready?” — a three-hour seminar to help residents and businesses prepare for disasters — will be held in the Menlo Park council chambers on Thursday, May 11, starting at 6 p.m.
The Menlo Park Rotary Club is hosting the event in partnership with the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, the Menlo Park police department, and the San Mateo County Office of Emergency Services.
Seating is limited. To reserve a seat, call (877) 665-6330.
The council chambers are in the Menlo Park Civic Center at 701 Laurel St.
Plug-in hybrids at environmental event
Gas-conscious folk who want to improve on regular hybrid cars will converge on Tuesday, May 9, from 7 to 9 p.m., for the May Environmental Forum at the Acterra parking lot at 3921 E. Bayshore Road in Palo Alto.They can take a test spin in a plug-in hybrid that can get up to 100 miles per gallon. Felix Kramer of CalCars will talk about retrofitting existing hybrids so they can be recharged from household electricity. Advocates say they combine the energy and flexibility of gasoline engines with the energy efficiency of electric cars.
Cost is $5 for Acterra members and $10 for non-members.
For information, call Ellen Wilkinson at 962-9876, ext. 306; or go to acterra.org.
E-waste recycling at M-A
Support Menlo-Atherton High School’s safe and sober graduation night celebration and be a good citizen, too, by recycling your broken or old electronic gear and accessories, including TVs, computers, phones and entertainment systems.The two-day recycling event takes place in the M-A student parking lot from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 6, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 7.
For the grad night benefit and year-round, corporations can arrange free pick-up of electronic gear by calling Amerturk Inc. in Sunnyvale at (408) 483-0538 and designating proceeds for M-A at account number 1018.
Oracle conference on health care crisis
“Health Care in Crisis: Local Solutions for Reining in Costs” is the title of a major conference to be held Thursday, May 11, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at the Oracle Conference Center in Redwood Shores.Speakers and a panel will focus on how companies can lower health care costs for themselves and their employees, and what can be done locally to help solve the larger issues of health care.
The conference is sponsored by the business organization Samceda, and the Peninsula Public/Private Partnership.
Edward O’Neil, director of the Center for Health Professions at the University of California San Francisco, will give the keynote address. He will be followed by a panel discussion with Mark Carpenter, benefits specialist for Professional Insurance Associates; Dr. Michelle Caughey, physician in chief for the Kaiser Hospital in South San Francisco; and Glenna Vaskelis, president of the Hospital Consortium of San Mateo County.
Corporate sponsorships are available for $2,000 each; individual tickets are $75. For information, call 345-8300 or go to samceda.org.
Big names at ‘Breakfast of Champions’
East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis will receive a Role Model Award at the annual Breakfast of Champions, celebrating OICW, the Menlo Park job-training center, on Friday, May 12, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Santa Clara Marriott, 2700 Mission College Boulevard in Santa Clara.The high-energy event regularly draws more than 800 people to honor graduates of OICW (Opportunities Industrialization Center West). Many graduates have overcome big obstacles to learn the skills they need to get and hold a solid job in today’s competitive economy.
This year’s Breakfast of Champions will also feature Stanford Women’s Basketball Coach Tara VanDerveer, OICW graduates, big names in business and sports, media personalities Jan Hutchins and Rita Williams, and a special “mystery guest.”
Past mystery guests have included Carlos Santana, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Joan Baez, Jerry Rice, Danny Glover, and Tiger Woods.
Tickets are $60 each; sponsorships are available.
To make reservations or for information, call Shannon Ten Broeck at 330-6489, or go to oicw.org.
