Community & Clubs: Interfaith Council elects officers, directors

The Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council reelected The Rev. Julie Elkins, pastor at First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa, as its president for 2011 at the January membership meeting.

Serving with Elkins as vice presidents are Greg Kelley, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church; Armand Mauss, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Irvine; The Rev. David Stoner, First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa; and Lane Calvert, Bahai's of Costa Mesa. The Rev. Lloyd Sellers, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, will serve as treasurer.

Serving on the board of directors are Soraya Azzawi, a student at UC Irvine; Eman Bermani, Islamic Educational Center of Orange County; Victoria Dendinger, Our Lady Queen of Angels; Rabbi Marc Dworkin, American Jewish Committee; The Rev. Sarah Halverson, Fairview Community Church; Christine Hernandez, Earth Centered; Caroline Kline, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Newport Beach Stake); The Rev. Holly Reinhart-Marean, Christ Church by the Sea; The Rev. Don Oliver, Hoag Hospital; The Rev. Blake Schwendimann, St. Matthews's Anglican Catholic Church, and The Rev. Bradley Stienstra, Newport Harbor Lutheran Church.

The Interfaith Council's meeting on Feb. 16 will be held at 1 p.m. at the Hoag Hospital Irvine auditorium, 16200 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine. Lunch will be served, and hospital officials will make a presentation on changes in the health care system in 2011.

Visit http://www.nmiinterfaith.org for more information, and to make reservations, e-mail nmiinterfaith@aol.com. Attendees will receive a free copy of the 32-page 2011 directory for Costa Mesa, Irvine and Newport Beach that contains information on 120 congregations, hundreds of religious leaders and dozens of interfaith contacts.

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Rotary supports Africa Girls School project

At a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Newport Beach Sunrise, member Cynthia Cowell introduced Sylvia Michler and Kimberly McKinney, who provided a presentation on the Africa Girls School project.

Michler explained the process that they and the Rotary Club of Newport Beach Sunrise went through to secure a grant for the African Child Foundation. The African Child Foundation supports more than 350 orphans at the school, the Mt. Olive Academy, which opened in January 2010.