Brush clearing at Monteith Farmstead

Appalachian Tree Services of Franklin donated its services to remove several large trees and brush debris from the Monteith Farmstead in Dillsboro and the site of the Appalachian Women’s Museum, which is working to create a museum that will chronicle the rich and diverse history of Southern Appalachian women. www.appwm.org.

Community notes

• A Ceremonial U.S. Flag Retirement Ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at VFW Post 5202 in Waynesville. If anyone has a flag that needs to be disposed of, drop it off at the Post. 828.456.9346. 

• Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort employees volunteered 21,179 hours in 2014 through roadside clean ups, supply drives, and various other volunteer events. Harrah’s received the WNC Association of Fundraising Professionals’ 2014 Outstanding Business in Philanthropy Award.

• Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Western North Carolina will hold it annual Bowl For Kids’ Sake fundraiser for Haywood County from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 14 at Sky Lanes in Asheville, with a host of teams already signed up and more being accepted. Big Brothers, Big Sisters is a nonprofit organization that partners children facing adversity with volunteers in the community who can provide them guidance and help them achieve success. 828.356.2148.

• Jackson Neighbors in Need raised $8,700 at the Charlie’s Challenge fundraiser on Jan. 31 to benefit the organization’s heating assistance program, weatherization services and emergency shelter. www.jacksonneigborsinneed.org.  

• Social entrepreneurship students at Western Carolina University helped raise more than $1,400 for organizations serving Western North Carolina. 828.227.3295 or www.servicelearning.wcu.edu.

• Catch the Spirit of Appalachia will provide four $500 scholarships for high school seniors pursuing “Appalachian Studies,” with each scholarship focused on a different aspect of Appalachian heritage. www.spiritofappalachia.org. 828.631.4587.

• Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation in Haywood County set a new record high for number of pets saved in a year. In 2014, Sarge’s saved 1,231 dogs and cats — a 13 percent increase from 2013. www.sargeandfriends.org or 828.246.9050.

• Walmart of Waynesville presented a check for $1,500 to The Arc of Haywood County, a nonprofit that serves individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, for Christmas presents and clothes to the individuals served in their program. www.arcofhaywood.org.

• St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Haywood County is providing food, toiletries and other essentials to needy students at Pisgah High School for the second year in a row through the Backpacks of Love program, which sends students home with food every Friday to help them make it through the weekend. The church also provides food through MANNA Food Bank to Meadowbrook Elementary students. Holy Smoke Ministry at St. Andrew’s helps fund the program by selling barbecue at festivals and events. 828.648.7550.

• The Jackson County Youth Leadership Council is giving out mini-grants to other youth groups in the county engaged in community service projects of their own. The teenagers in the club are learning about philanthropy by serving as a mini-foundation to solicit, review and select projects worthy of funding. The Council is a high school 4-H club supported in part by a grant from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation. www.jcyouthleadership.weebly.com or 828.586.4009.

• Emma McElroy, a fourth-grader at Riverbend Elementary School, asked friends to bring linens to her 10th birthday party instead of gifts to be donated to the Haywood Pathways Center in Hazelwood. She donated 23 sheet sets, pillows, towels and washcloths and gave the $220 she received in birthday money to Pathways.

• The Macon County School Nutrition Relay for Life Team is selling breast cancer awareness T-shirts as a fundraiser through Feb. 23. From now until relay night, they will be selling homemade Oreo balls dipped in chocolate, cakes and pumpkin rolls. 828.524.4692.