Chapel Hill-based nonprofit Book Harvest’s collection of donated books swelled by 10,000 volumes Monday during the group’s first community-wide book drive.

It took Courage for Erin Holdaway to start her own in-home animal rescue organization. For Holdaway, Courage came as a pit bull that the senior biology major adopted from the Nash County Animal Shelter as the first resident of PAWS, or Protecting Animals with Service.

For years, the time it takes for county ambulances to respond to emergency calls has lagged behind local officials’ goals.

Renita Lee was always running out of eggs. After moving to Carrboro five years ago to enter a drug rehabilitation program, Lee said she has had trouble finding a job — even after being drug-free for more than four years.

On paper, Ryan Flanagan had it all. During his junior year, the North Carolina lacrosse player was the co-winner of the Schmeisser Memorial Cup as the nation’s top defender.

A merger between two mental health care management entities could bring more quality health services to county residents. Judy Truitt, director of the OPC Area Program that serves Orange, Person and Chatham counties, said the program began seeking a partner after the N.C.

Days after dozens of tornadoes raged across the state, the University is looking to extend a hand and lift N.C. communities from the rubble.

Thirteen years after the UNC campus featured prominently in the motion picture “Patch Adams,” the real thing arrived at the Student Union and the Medical Biomolecular Research Building.

More than 2,000 students, faculty and community members will gather at Fetzer Field on Friday at 6 p.m. for the University’s 13th annual Relay for Life event.

Red rubber noses, outlandish outfits, giant underwear — all in an unexpected place. In the spirit of unconventional health care activist and doctor Patch Adams — who is coming to campus to speak next week— members of UNC’s art therapy organization, ArtHeels, bring the art of clowning to the children of UNC Hospitals.

A team of artists are partnering with residents in the Abbey Court apartment complex to collaborate on an art project that celebrates and explores the community. The project is part of the town’s Into the Streets: Community Arts Engagement Project, sponsored by the Town of Chapel Hill Public Arts Office and the Public Arts Commission. The goal of the project is to connect people inside and outside the community, which is located in Carrboro on Jones Ferry Road.

The graphic signs in the Polk Place quad advocating for an end to animal cruelty will be up through the week until Thursday.

The last Chancellor’s Open House was held Wednesday evening in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union. Chancellor Holden Thorp applauded students’ commitment to public service both in the community and internationally.

Nine months after opening, a nonprofit targeting the Latino population in Carrboro is expanding services to aid its local youth population. The El Centro Hispano center in Carrboro is adding several projects, including the Jóvenes Líderes en Acción program, or Young Leaders in Action, which began in 1996 in El Centro Hispano’s Durham office.

Prom season means fairy tale fantasies for many girls. But prom’s high expenses make those fantasies hard to realize for many. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is striving to change that through the Pearlfect Prom Project, an event held most years in the spring.

The kids of Abbey Court look forward to Thursday afternoons, when Judith Blau’s social and economic justice class plays soccer with them. “Soccer is a global language,” said John Mulholland, who coaches children at Abbey Court.

This year, blood donations have fallen behind by 3,200 units for the Carolinas region and more than 30,000 units nationwide — and the shortage is getting worse. In response, the Orange County Red Cross has 13 blood drives scheduled for March.

After exhausting a 2009 grant for faculty wellness programs, Chatham County Schools is getting creative with its fitness programs. Some schools are turning to volunteer fitness instructors and group challenge programs to help keep their faculty fit ever since the grant funds they previously used dried up.

Songs, skits and readings will fill the air of a former school this weekend, when a variety radio show will be held to raise money for four mental health agencies: Freedom House Recovery Center, Mental Health America of the Triangle, Cross Disability Services (XDS Inc.) and Club Nova.

A volunteer position at UNC Hospitals can help ease the pain for parents who have to leave children at the hospital. At any time, at least three pediatric cuddlers are searching for upset children who need to be held and comforted, or just want to be played with.