People/North
WALK OF HOPE -- Approximately $100,000 was raised by 800 walkers at last Saturday's Walk of Hope for ALS, spokeswoman Ann Hadley said. The annual 3.5-mile walk around Lake Quannapowitt benefits ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) research at Massachusetts General Hospital's Cecil B. Day Neuromuscular Research Center. Highlights of the day included a display of vintage and new cars on Wakefield Common by members of North Shore Corvettes of Massachusetts, and the release of a dozen white homing pigeons at the walk's start in remembrance of those who have died of ALS. Speakers included state Representative Michael Festa (D-Melrose), Wakefield selectman John Carney, and Angel Fund president Rich Kennedy. To donate, visit www.theangelfund.org.
HOSPITAL WORKER HONORED -- Merrimack Valley Hospital selected Jackie Fish of Haverhill as its September Employee of the Month. An Employees Activities Committee comprising Fish's peers gave her high marks in eight areas: performance, reliability, personality, appearance, consideration, initiative, communication, and acting as a hospital ambassador during work hours. Fish, who has worked four years as a medical records coder in the Haverhill hospital's Health Information Management Dept., ''exemplifies what every manager hopes for in their employees," said department director Kathy DiPietro.
TEEING UP FOR SCHOOL -- A golf tournament at Mount Hood Golf Course in Melrose tomorrow will raise funds to upgrade the library and maintain other programs at the city's Horace Mann Elementary School. Tournament chair Samantha Sullivan said last year's contest raised $7,500 for academic enrichment and MCAS tutoring programs. This year's goal is $10,000. The $120 per player event begins at 1:30 p.m. and includes use of a golf cart, a goody bag, and dinner. To register, call 781-662-4707 or visit www.melroseschools.com/horacemann/HMGolf.htm.
STRUT FOR STRAYS -- The Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society's 11th Annual Strut for Strays steps off at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in Newburyport. Society president Stacy LeBaron hopes to attract 200 walkers and raise $25,000 to offset the costs of sheltering, immunizing, spaying and neutering, and facilitating adoptions. The group has placed over 13,000 cats and kittens into new homes since 1992 and has spayed or neutered over 6,000 feral cats, reducing the state's population. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, the society manages two dozen feeding stations in feral cat colonies daily. Funds raised Sunday will help pay for a recent rescue of more than 50 cats from a Salisbury home. About 40 of them still need homes, LeBaron said, and there will be an adoption booth set up Sunday. See www.mrfrs.org.
GEM OF A VOLUNTEER -- Marblehead's Harriet Diamond will be honored as the Lynn-Swampscott-Marblehead chapter of Hadassah kicks off its Diamond Anniversary (60 years). The annual donor dinner takes place Sept. 28 at Congregation Shirat Hayam of the North Shore, 55 Atlantic Ave., Swampscott, at 6 p.m. Diamond will be recognized for 35 years of service to Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of the United States. She has been chapter and region president, and is currently liaison for the Hadassah Northeast's Keepers of the Gate fund-raising program. For reservations, call 781-581-5790.
HOTEL RWANDA HERO -- The Annual Meeting & Recognition Dinner of the Jewish Rehabilitation Center of the North Shore features a talk by Paul Rusesabagina, the real-life hero featured in the movie, ''Hotel Rwanda." His lecture, ''Hotel Rwanda: A Lesson Yet to be Learned," will focus on the harsh realities of genocide. The 6:30 p.m. event at Salem's Peabody Essex Museum also will honor the JRC Junior and Ladies Auxiliaries. Scheduled to accept awards on behalf of their organizations are Elaine Shapiro of Swampscott, cochair of the Junior Auxiliary, and Barbara Dusseault of Salem, Ladies Auxiliary cochair. For tickets, call 781-973-1591.
PEDDLING FOR JIMMY FUND -- About 150 children ages 4 to 14 are expected to participate in Saturday's inaugural PMC Kids-Marblehead Ride. The bike-a-thon, which will include an obstacle course for tricycles and longer routes for older kids, will benefit the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge. Spokeswoman Erin Linehan said event organizers hope to raise $5,000 for the PMC, an annual fund-raiser for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Jimmy Fund. The Marblehead ride was launched by Lisa Rosen of Boston, who lost her mother to cancer in 1995. Rosen's brothers, Danny and Michael Rosen, live in Marblehead. One of 13 PMC Kids rides in Massachusetts, Marblehead's event begins with registration at 12:30 p.m. at the Eveleth School, 3 Brook Road. For details, go to http://kids.pmc.org/marblehead.htm.
RELAY FOR LIFE -- Cochair Donna Eldredge of Amesbury said 34 teams, comprising a total of about 1,000 people, raised about $70,000 walking in last weekend's American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Amesbury. Amesbury's Relay -- an overnight fund-raiser involving teams of lap walkers - was introduced three years ago by Amesbury resident Penny Zagranis, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor and whose father-in-law died of cancer. She said last year's Amesbury Relay raised $94,000 for cancer patient services, public awareness, and research. This year's goal is $100,000. Log onto www.acsevents.org/relay/MAamesbury to donate.
WHO, WHAT, WHERE -- New teachers at the Marblehead School of Ballet are Sarah Fader of Ipswich, Sara Klinga of Marblehead, and Julie Pappas of Derry, N.H. ... Kathleen Mauriot of Wakefield was named division manager for the technology market sector at Treeline, Inc., recruitment and placement specialists in Wakefield.
Lisa Capone can be reached at capone@globe.com 
