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After organizing projects to donate fuel-efficient stoves to families in Darfur and Rwanda, Bullis senior Spencer Brodsky is turning his attention to Haiti.

Brodsky has worked in past years to raise money for the stoves through CHF International, a Silver-Spring based international development and humanitarian aid group with projects around the world. Brodsky organized the community to fund the $30 stoves, which cook food with significantly less fuel than with traditional cooking methods. That campaign raised more than $160,000 toward the purchase of the stoves, according to Brodsky.

Now, as the rainy season approaches the earthquake-ravaged nation of Haiti, Brodsky is using the skills he developed during the stove campaigns to help fund the purchase of tents for earthquake victims. More than one million people remain without shelter after the Jan. 12 earthquake, according to news reports.

"With hundreds of thousands of Haitians displaced, and the rainy season approaching, the need couldn't be greater," Brodsky wrote in an e-mail to The Gazette.

Brodsky is once again donating the proceeds of his fundraising campaign to CHF International, which is organizing the tents project.

After the recent record snowstorms forced Brodsky to cancel a fundraiser he planned at Bullis, he launched his fundraiser Feb. 13 at the Giant Food store in Cabin John Shopping Center. The Valentine's-themed bake sale, organized by Brodsky and Bullis student Lexi Kay, drew $920 – enough for 23 tents.

To learn more about the project, visit www.tentsinhaiti.com. To learn more about CHF international, visit www.chfinternational.org/

The show goes on at KAT

After the Kensington Arts Theatre was forced to postpone the opening night performance of the musical RENT — originally slated for Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 — due to the snow storms, the show went on Feb. 19 with the inaugural performance. 

The Pulitzer Prize-winning "rock opera" will be performed through March 7. The show, with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson, is a take on Giacomo Puccini's opera "La Bohème" and tells the story of a group of struggling young artists and musicians in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Tickets are $20 for adults, $17 for seniors and students, $13 for Kensington residents, and $13 for children under 13. For reservations, visit www.katonline.org.

 Cupcake Idol

Last week's item about the Cupcake Idol singing competition omitted contact information. The event, planned for 7 p.m. Saturday at Walter Johnson High School, will raise money for Red Cross relief in Haiti. It's organized by Community Cupcakes, a Garrett Park charity formed in memory of Luke Carter-Schelp, who was killed in an auto-pedestrian collision, and the Stone and Holt Weeks Foundation, which commemorates two North Bethesda brothers who were killed in a car accident in 2009.

The competition is open to middle school and high school students. Entrants will receive a $100 gift certificate to the School of Rock in Bethesda and the grand prize winner will receive free voice lessons.

A $10 entrance fee and pizza sale will benefit relief in Haiti. For more information about the event, or to learn more about signing up, e-mail valcarter1@comcast.net. Or, search "Community Cupcakes 2010 presents Cupcake Idol" on Facebook.

 Don't forget to dance

Dance Bethesda is happening this weekend. The festival is organized by the Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District and the Bethesda Urban Partnership. Events include a dance concert featuring six dance companies selected through an audition process from among 40 troupes in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The performers — the ClancyWorks Dance Company, Janaki Rangarajan, Jason Garcia Ignacio, Karen Reedy Dance, Tappers with Attitude and Washington Reflections Dance Company — will take the stage at 8 p.m. Saturday at Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway in Bethesda. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children under 12.

Additionally, free lessons and dance parties will take place in downtown Bethesda dance studios from 8-10:30 p.m Friday. Choose from a wide variety of dance styles, including hip-hop, jazz, salsa, cha-cha, foxtrot, tango and line dancing. And on Saturday, Bryan "Boogiemind" East, a founding member and choreographer of the Boogie Bots Crew — featured on season two of "America's Best Dance Crew" — will lead a class for teens and a class for adults. Master classes are $25, and registration is required. For more information on the festival, visit www.bethesda.org.

 Find literary treasures

The Walter Johnson High School All School Booster Club is gearing up for its sixth annual used book sale, slated for 9a.m. to 2p.m. Saturday, March 6, and Sunday, March 7 in the cafeteria of WJHS, 6400 Rock Spring Drive, Bethesda. Thousands of used books focusing on history, politics, art, and more will be up for grabs, along with audio books, compact discs, and movies. Most items are between $1 and $3, and proceeds will support extracurricular activities at WJHS. For more information, email usedbooksale@wjboosterclub.com or call 301-580-0896.

Scouts survive the wilderness

Nearly one thousand Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and scout leaders from around the county and the state braved cold weather to gather for the annual Klondike Derby last month at Little Bennett Regional Park in Clarksburg.

The event dates back to 1991 and has become a signature event for county Scouts. Following along with their motto, "Be prepared," Scouts practiced skills such as building sleds, tying knots, cooking outdoors and identifying plants and animals — earning points for each skill mastered. The "Dragon Patrol" team, of Potomac's Troop 773, came out on top in skills contests. The "Stags" team of Kensington's Troop 8 won a sled race.

For more information about Scouting in Montgomery County, visit www.boyscouts-ncac.org.

This column is for you! Share your good news! Contact Erin Donaghue at edonaghue@gazette.net or 301-280-3007. Send information by fax at 301-670-7183, or snail mail at 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877.