Around Town (12-24-14)
Christmas luncheon
The 23rd annual Spirit of Christmas luncheon will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Boys & Girls Club, 615 W. 15th St. in Merced. The dinner is free and open to all. Participants will receive free groceries. To donate or for information, contact Joe at (209) 726-5251.
Christmas Eve service
Atwater United Methodist Church invites the public to its holiday Candlelight Service at 6:30 p.m. today. The observance will be held at the church, 2550 Linden St., Atwater. The service will include the singing of Christmas carols. For more information, call (209) 358-6172.
Blood drive
BloodSource Merced is having its 2014 Season of Giving drive until Dec. 31. Blood donors will receive a commemorative T-shirt and other items. Last year, more than 900 people gave blood, helping to save more than 2,700 lives. The group hopes to collect more than 1,000 donations this month to help 3,000 local patients in need. BloodSource is at 382 E. Yosemite Ave., Merced, and 1040 W. Monte Vista Ave., Turlock. For more information, go to www.bloodsource.org or call (866) 822-5663 to schedule a donation appointment.
Mental illness support
Merced County’s branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness holds biweekly support groups for families affected by serious mental illness. For more information, call (209) 381-6844. A volunteer will contact you within 48 hours.
New Beginnings
New Beginnings Merced is a nonprofit dedicated to saving shelter animals and finding them new homes. The group needs volunteers, especially those who can care for kittens or dogs and their puppies for a short time. Help with photographing shelter animals is needed, as are people who can transport them to rescue organizations. No personal vehicles are needed. Call (209) 769-2122.
McNamara Youth Center ceremony
The staff of the McNamara Youth Center plans a ribbon-cutting ceremony from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 30 at the building in McNamara Park, 1040 Canal St., to celebrate the reopening of the center. Five nonprofits will operate the center after it opens, at no cost to the city of Merced for staff time. For more on the event, call Kelly Turner at (682) 553-2366.
New Year’s Eve party
Club Mercedes, 569 W. Ninth St., Merced, will have a New Year’s Eve party featuring Donnie and the Wayrads. Tickets are $15 per person. You must be 21 or older to attend. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the music is from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. A full beverage bar is available at extra cost. There will be finger foods at 10 p.m. and a champagne toast at midnight. Tickets can be purchased by calling (209) 777-6750 or the club at (209) 383-9906 after 4 p.m.
If you would like to have an event announced in Around Town, send information to aroundtown@mercedsunstar.com at least 10 days before the event. Items run according to space available.
This story was originally published December 23, 2014 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Around Town (12-24-14)."