The holidays will be a little brighter for more than 100 underprivileged local children/teenagers thanks to Tahoe Regional Young Professionals raising $5,000 at the organization’s 2nd annual Winter White Holiday Party.

TRYP organized a holiday party to benefit Tahoe’s SkiDUCK,(SKi and snowboarding for Disabled and Underprivileged Children and older Kids) at Riva Grill.

SkiDUCK is a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of disabled and underprivileged children by sharing the joys of skiing and snowboarding. SKiDUCK is run entirely by volunteers.

The Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe’s Pet Pantry could be more full.

With the slogan “Give what you can, take what you need,” this program collects pet food and distributes it to needy families and their pets in the Truckee-Tahoe area.

Anyone with extra food or who wants to donate some, collection barrels are available at the following locations: Safeway in Truckee and Kings Beach, Pet Station, and Scraps Dog Bakery in Truckee.

Dog food will be handed out at the Humane Society Shelter every Saturday from noon-2pm. The shelter is located at the old Truckee Corporation Yard, 10720 Riverview Drive, Truckee.

People needing pet food, may call (530) 587.5948.

El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department is adding a detective to investigate elder abuse and financial crimes.

The county’s population is 31.62 percent over the state’s average for citizens over the age of 65.

Recent national statistics show, more than a half million reports of abuse against the elderly are reported every year, while millions more go unreported.

In El Dorado County, reported crimes of elder abuse has increased 9 percent since 2011.

The elder abuse investigator will work closely with the District Attorney’s Office, as well as the county’s Adult Protective Services.

• Snowboarder Shaun White, who trains at Northstar, had his locks cut off Dec. 18 for a good cause.

• More than 3,100 volunteers are needed for Ironman Lake Tahoe on Sept. 22. To register for a volunteer position, go online.

• Shelly Aldean will be chairwoman of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board in 2013, with Casey Beyer the vice chairman.

• Nevada News Bureau is shutting down its operations at the end of the year.

• Diamond Peak is opening Dec. 20, and Tahoe Donner Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner Cross Country open Dec. 21.

Help support Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care and Tahoe Youth & Family Services by eating at Freshies in South Lake Tahoe on Dec. 18.

The restaurant is donating a portion of proceeds to these two nonprofits.

Tom and Cheryl Millham from LTWC will have photos of the birds and other animals they have rehabilitated.

Freshies is at 3330 Lake Tahoe Blvd., in the Fremont Mall, next to Bank of America.

North Tahoe Arts is receiving an extra-special gift of generosity this holiday season. An anonymous donor has offered to match every donation that NTA receives through Dec. 31.

North Tahoe Arts, located in Tahoe City for more than 24 years, has been supporting the arts in the Truckee North Lake Tahoe area with various events such as its most recent ARTour in July, Kids Art Camps happening each summer and numerous Art Openings in the Artisan Shop throughout the year.

To donate and also take part in the Matching Gift Campaign, go online and click on the “donate” tab at the top right of the page. Donations are also welcome by mail. Make check out to North Tahoe Arts, P.O. Box 6354, Tahoe City, CA 96145.

For more information, call (530) 581.2787.

The World Explorers’ Club will meet once a month to learn about the world, do activities and write letters to their pen pals.

The first meeting will be Jan. 15 at 3:30pm at the South Lake Tahoe branch library. Future meetings will be on the fourth Tuesday of each month.

Sign up at the library to join the World Explorers.

Explorers will:

* Learn about young people from around the world.

* Help fight poverty.

* Create art projects to share with a pen pal.

The library is at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.

• Karen Borges is president of the Lake Tahoe Community College board for the next year.

• Nordic Fest on the North Shore is rescheduled for Feb. 8-10.

• The South Lake Tahoe Rec Center is offering a special Kids Night Out on Dec. 31. More information is available at (530) 542.6056.

• Here is the roadwork schedule from Caltrans for El Dorado-Tahoe.

• Tahoe Maritime Museum is Homewood this winter is offering free admission to Tahoe area residents on the second Saturday of each month.

A professional surfer who achieves her dreams in despite of a shark attack that resulted in the loss of an arm, and a New York Times bestselling author chronicles the impetus and discoveries on an 1,100-mile journey along the Pacific Crest Trail.

These are the topics of upcoming Squaw Valley Institute events.

The celebrities behind the stories appearing at these lectures include Soul Surfer Bethany Hamilton, on Dec. 22 at Olympic Village Lodge in Squaw Valley, and author of “Wild”, Cheryl Strayed, on Jan. 13 at PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn.

Both lectures include a book or DVD signing; tickets are are available online.

Lake Tahoe News is continuing its quest to give back to the community with each paid subscription we receive. (Here is a copy of a subscriber form.)

Plenty of worthy causes are out there. We are focusing on putting food into people’s stomachs.

Beside becoming a paid subscriber and knowing LTN is helping, people can buy a Food for Families bag at Raley’s for $10 and the story will donate $20 worth of goods locally. You can also buy a bag online — no need to go to the store.

Tahoe Community Church in Stateline needs tuna, peanut butter, cereal, rice, mac and cheese, canned vegetable and fruit.

Any donations of food can be dropped off at the church office (corner of Daggett and Kingsbury Grade) Tuesday through Thursday between 11am-2pm or Friday afternoons at the Tahoe Community Church multipurpose room between 12:30-4:30pm.