Walk against violence benefits crisis center

This year, Tucker, 14, decided he wanted to do more and recruited a team of friends to walk and raise money for the center.

“We want to get more young people involved, and Tucker is helping us do that,’’ said Suzanne Dubus, executive director of the crisis center. She said the center’s goal is to connect with families and encourage healthy, safe, and peaceful relationships among boys and girls in the community.

The 18th annual Walk Against Violence and Dorothy’s Run 5K are Sunday in Newburyport.

The run honors the memory of Dorothy Giunta-Cotter, who was fatally shot by her estranged husband in her Amesbury home in March 2002.

As in the past, the event includes a children’s tent, with age-appropriate activities that stress nonviolence. New this year is a Halloween costume contest for children under 12, with a prize for the best nonviolent costume.

There also is an art contest of posters on the theme of “What Peace Means to Me.’’ Last year’s winning design, by Lucy Purinton of Newburyport, has been reproduced on buttons that are being distributed to event participants.

A classmate of Tucker’s at the Brookwood School in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Purinton is joining his team for the walk.

Registration for the 3.1-mile walk and run begins at 11 a.m. at the Bartlet Mall, with the run starting at 12:45 p.m., and the walk at 12:50.

MENSCH OF THE YEAR: Paul Lanzikos, executive director of North Shore Elder Services in Danvers, will be honored by the Chelsea Jewish Foundation as Mensch of the Year at a breakfast Tuesday at Danversport Yacht Club.

“When I think of a mensch, Paul comes to mind,’’ said Barry Berman, chief executive officer of the foundation. “He is such a caring person who is good to others, as evidenced by his 37-year history as an advocate for the elderly. Paul’s career has taken him through public, private, and government service positions for the care of elders.

“Today, he leads the North Shore community with his enthusiasm and wisdom,’’ Berman continued. “I have seen his concern for the elderly in every aspect of his life and am proud to see him honored in this way.’’

Lanzikos, of Beverly, served as secretary of the Massachusetts Office of Elder Affairs from 1987 to 1991 under Governor Michael Dukakis.

He is a member of many health, long-term care, and aging organizations. He also has served on state and national task forces and advisory boards.

The breakfast begins at 8 a.m. All proceeds benefit the foundation’s newest project, the Leonard Florence Center for Living in Chelsea.

For more information, call 617-884-6766.

WHO’S WHAT WHERE: During his more than 50 years with Beverly Hospital and Northeast Health System, Dr. Henry J. Ramini is credited with many accomplishments, including establishment of North Shore Birth Center, which became the first freestanding birth center run by nurse-midwives in the state when it opened in 1980. Ramini, president and CEO of Northeast Health System, recently received the 2009 American Association of Birth Centers Collaborating Physician Award for his support of birth centers. . . . Dr. Elizabeth Collins of the Lahey Clinic in Burlington is being honored by the Visiting Nurse Association of Middlesex-East at the Crestview in Woburn at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 7 for her hospice work and advocacy for patients and caregivers. Collins, of Winchester, is medical director of the Lahey Clinic Palliative Care Service and medical director of the hospice program at the VNA of Middlesex-East in Wakefield. The event is the VNA’s 17th annual charity auction, which raises funds for Sawtelle Family Hospice House in Reading.

Items can be sent to wdkilleen@gmail.com.