Around the Valley | Interfaith vigil Saturday in Visalia, St. Jude home winner and more

Interfaith vigil in Visalia to honor Jews killed in Pittsburgh

An interfaith vigil for the 11 people killed in Pittsburgh’s Jewish community will be held Saturday at the Congregation B’nai David at 1039 S. Chinowith St. in Visalia.

Beginning at 5:30 p.m., the vigil will be led by student Rabbi Ariel Zitny. All faith groups are invited to come together and share thoughts and prayers, light candles and observe a moment of silence, the congregation’s vice president, Norm Goldstrom, said. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact Goldstrom at 559-287-2726.

Kingsburg man wins St. Jude Dream Home

Stan Ruiz of Kingsburg is the winner of the 2018 Central Valley St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, the hospital announced.

After finding out he won, Ruiz and his family visited the dream home, valued at $405,000, on Oct. 29.

At 2,100 square feet, the home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a cottage elevation, a center courtyard space with a second fireplace and smart features.

The Central Valley raised $957,000 this year for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Ruiz was one of hundreds of winners across the country.

Fresno State’s Day of Giving exceeds last year’s total

Fresno State’s second annual Day of Giving (DOG) raised $455,215 for scholarships, research, programs and student experiences from people around the world, according to early estimates by the university.

There were 2,120 individual donors, some giving multiple times, to the various colleges, departments and programs at Fresno State, resulting in a 7.17 percent increase of pledges over last year, according to Fresno State spokeswoman Lisa Boyles.

The one-day online campaign was trending on social media all 24 hours on Nov. 1, Boyles said, and students held a rally outside the Save Mart Center to draw attention to the campaign.

Ruiz Foods donates to student pantry, ministry

Workers at Ruiz Foods in Dinuba collected 2,850 pounds of food during October to donate to College of the Sequoias’ Giant Pantry and Open Gate Ministries.

COS and Open Gate will split the donation and COS also will receive 220 hygiene items, like toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap for students, according to project spokeswoman Blanca Santana.

Since 2015, Ruiz employees have donated more than 8,000 pounds of food to community organizations.

(Note: The original version of this item incorrectly reported the total donation, citing incorrect information provided in a news release. Also, the item cited the wrong spokesperson for the project.)

This story was originally published November 3, 2018 at 12:29 AM.