As she was watching the fires on television destroy homes and thousands of acres of land in Southern California, Guadalupe Elementary School fifth-grader Annapoorna Gururajan decided she would rather friends and family take the money they would otherwise spend on her birthday gifts and write a check to the American Red Cross to help relief efforts.

She turned 11 on Nov. 10 and collected about $200 in checks at her birthday party, her father, Raj Gururajan, said. Her collection efforts were extended at school, where checks totaling $52 were collected for the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army.

Her birthday drive collection ended Nov. 21 with a total of $252. Her father said Annapoorna's 17-year-old sister, Arundthi, who attends Leigh High School, also opted to not receive gifts in lieu of contributions.

Churches to host joint production of popular Christmas musical 'Amahl'

Saint Anthony's Catholic Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will jointly present Amahl and the Night Visitors, one of the most popular American Christmas musical productions.

The story, one of Gian Carlo Menotti's charming fables, follows the three kings of the Nativity story as they rest in the home of the young, crippled Amahl and his widowed mother on the road to Bethlehem.

Only an hour in length, the one-act musical Amahl, with its beautiful score and touching libretto (sung in English) is appealing to all ages and musical backgrounds. It was written specifically for young imaginations, which can easily relate to a child with a head full of dreams.

The performances will be held on Dec. 17­20 at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on Dec. 20, at the San Jose South Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 6624 Camden Ave., San Jose, near Almaden Expressway.

Tickets are $10 per person or $35 for a family ticket. Handicap seating is available. For tickets or more information, call 408.268.3151.

Measure C oversight meeting on Dec. 2

The San Jose Unified School District will hold a Measure C Bond Oversight Committee meeting on Dec. 2, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at district headquarters, 855 Lenzen Ave., Room 337.

At the meeting, district facilities staff will provide reports on construction progress and budget status for modernization projects at district schools.

Measure C is a $165 million school modernization bond approved by San Jose voters in 1997. For a copy of the agenda, contact Debbie Doty at the San Jose Unified School District at 408.535.6071.

VTA holiday transit schedules available

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) will provide holiday service on Nov. 27 and Nov. 28 for VTA buses and light rail. No express buses will run except for Express 180, which will operate on a holiday schedule. Light rail shuttles, Dumbarton Express, Highway 17 Express and ACE shuttles will not be in service.

For more information about VTA services, call VTA customer service at 408.321.2300 or 408.321.2330 (TDD only), or visit www.vta.org.

Book exchange acts as fundraiser

Beginning Dec. 3, parents of students at Guadalupe Elementary School can, for a $1 donation that will benefit the school, "borrow" a book from a new collection of donated books in the Guadalupe Book Exchange for Adults.

Every Wednesday, before and after school, the collection of books for adults will be available in the school cafeteria. There is no time limit on keeping the books and when a book is returned it can be exchanged for another.

"This is a perfect opportunity with Almaden Library shutting down soon," said Christina Ferguson, the program's creator.

Anyone can donate books that would otherwise be collecting dust in their homes, she said. Ferguson said she sees this as another fundraising method to help out the school, where two of her three children attend class.

Natural gas rebates available

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is offering rebates ranging from $300 to $500 to Santa Clara County residents who switch from a wood-burning appliance to a natural-gas appliance.

The district will rebate $500 to residents who replace an older wood stove (12 years or older) with a gas stove or replace an older fireplace insert (12 years or older) with a gas insert. Rebates of $300 are available for residents who install a new gas fireplace insert into a preexisting fireplace box or retrofit an existing fireplace box with a new gas line and gas log set.

According to the air district, wood burning emits 30 percent of the Bay Area's wintertime air pollution. Wood smoke contains high levels of toxins and carcinogens; using a gas fireplace or stove can reduce those emissions by up to 99 percent.

The rebate offer is available while supplies last. For more information, contact a participating dealer, such as Wright Fireside, 1766 W. San Carlos St., San Jose, 408.298.4030, or Landmark Window, 1323 S. Winchester Blvd., San Jose, 408.341.1300. For a full list of participating dealers, visit www.sparetheair.org or call the air district at 415.749.4791.

Make holidays bright for seriously ill kids

The Holiday Angels Toy Drive is asking for help this holiday season in the form of donated gifts for seriously ill and hospitalized children served by Starlight Children's Foundation.

People are encouraged to drop off new, unwrapped gifts at any Starbucks retail location across the United States and Canada through Dec. 25 for distribution to local community hospitals. During the holidays, Holiday Angels "giving" trees adorned with gift tags printed with toy suggestions will be on display at Starbucks. Suggested gifts include not only toys for individual children, but also videos and video-game cartridges for use in hospitals.

Busy customers who do not have time to purchase a gift can support the Holiday Angels Toy Drive with a monetary donation to Starlight. For more information, call 323.930.0811, ext. 133 or 119.

Dartmouth art hangs in county offices

Six young artists from Dartmouth Middle School have had their artwork selected to hang in the permanent collection at the Santa Clara County Office of Education. Their works were among 31 pieces chosen from hundreds of student entries for display in the hallowed halls of the COE, where the art of budding Van Goghs and Monets from across the county is prominently displayed. The Dartmouth artists are Justin Dion, Franchesca Galbraith, Valorie Reyes, Katie Sipos, Rachel Smith and Jocelyn Velasco.