Dog Ears Bookstore & Café will once again offer a free after school youth program — the Homework Help, Games & Clubs Program — for students in grades 3-8 beginning Tuesday, Oct. 13 and ending on Dec. 10. Three different days of programming will be offered by grade group. Tuesdays will feature programs for students in grades 3 and 4, while Wednesdays and Thursdays will be targeted towards students in grades 5 through 8. Depending on numbers, there will be an opportunity for children to attend all three days.

All sessions will be held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and are limited to 20 students per day. Sessions will be taught by literacy specialists and New York State Certified English Language Arts teachers. All class materials will be provided, along with a small snack.

A nonprofit community bookstore, Dog Ears is located at 688 Abbott Road, Buffalo, near Mercy Hospital. Sessions will be held upstairs of the bookstore (enter through the front entrance). Adults do not need to attend with their child but must be mindful of drop-off and pick-up times. Parents are welcome to wait for their children in the café, which will be open for food and beverage purchases.

Pre-registration is required and youth are expected to attend each week. Parents can register their children at the bookstore or by calling (716) 823-2665. When signing up, please make sure to indicate which day your child will be attending.

The free after school program is made possible through funding from M&T Bank, South District Council Member Christopher Scanlon and New York Assemblyman Patrick Burke.

Dog Ears Bookstore & Café will host two authors for a book-signing event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10

Chera (Apruzzese) Thompson’s award-winning novels, A Time to Wander and Dawned on the Danube, were inspired by true events. Her fiction and non-fiction works have been published in several anthologies, including the Los Angeles Review and Beach Combing Magazine. She has also contributed slice-of-life essays to The Buffalo News My View column. She held rewarding careers in travel and teaching English to refugees.

Terez Peipins, author of Budapest Clues, is a writer of Latvian descent. Her poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in publications both in the United States and abroad. She is the author of four chapbooks of poetry and five novels. She is the former fiction editor of the Adirondack Review and winner of the Natasha Trethewey Poetry Prize from the Atlanta Writers Club. Budapest Clues is the third book in the Dan Kiraly detective series.

Dog Ears Bookstore is located at 688 Abbott Road, Buffalo. For more information, please visit dogearsbookstore.org.

The American Red Cross of Western New York announced its partnered with Dog Ears Bookstore & Café, located at 688 Abbott Road, Buffalo, to help support local volunteer recruitment and preparedness training efforts in the community. Starting this week, coffee sleeves at Dog Ears Bookstore & Café will feature Red Cross graphics, contact information and a QR code to direct customers to more information on some of the most-needed volunteer positions and how to get involved.

In addition, Dog Ears Bookstore & Café will host a Red Cross preparedness training event on Sunday, March 29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will include free Hands-Only CPR training, information on Red Cross disaster preparedness, as well as volunteer recruitment team members who will be on hand to discuss local volunteer opportunities. 

“Volunteers are the backbone of the Red Cross workforce, helping to deliver our mission here at home and across the country for more than 140 years,” said Nick Bond, CEO, American Red Cross Western New York region. “Whether it’s signing up to volunteer or learning a lifesaving skill like Hands-Only CPR, we are grateful to community partners like Dog Ears Bookstore & Café for helping to highlight the need for volunteers and encourage the public to learn more about opportunities to join our humanitarian mission.”

“When disasters strike, the American Red Cross is there. I am proud to partner with the Red Cross to help educate the local community on the importance of preparing for life’s emergencies, as well as helping to support recruitment efforts in the event that a disaster strikes,” said Tom McDonnell, executive director of Dog Ears Bookstore & Café. “I am looking forward to more collaborative efforts to come.” 

While the Red Cross offers a number of volunteer opportunities to match a wide range of interests and time commitments both in-person and virtually, recruitment efforts through Dog Ears Bookstore & Café include some of the following positions: 

Blood Donor Ambassador – Greet blood donors and help them sign in for their appointment and monitor their well-being after they have donated. Flexible schedule willing to commit to one shift per month. Must be at least 16 years old.

Disaster Action Team (DAT) Specialist – DAT members provide assistance to individuals and families who have been impacted by a home fire or other local disaster.

Disaster Services – Sheltering Volunteer – Sheltering volunteers support day-to-day activities within a shelter before, during and/or following a disaster, which can include working in reception, feeding, dormitory, information and other areas. 

Disaster Services – Feeding Volunteer – Supports efforts on a disaster relief operation to ensure food safety and proper food service delivery in a variety of work locations.

Shelter Resident Transition Caseworker – This position supports the mission of the American Red Cross by helping individuals and households more quickly transition from a shelter, thus alleviating human suffering by shortening the time of their disaster-caused displacement and jumpstarting their longer-term recovery.

For more information, grab a cup of coffee or contact RecruitWNY@redcross.org. Those interested in additional opportunities are encouraged to visit redcross.org/volunteer. 

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org.