March is Diabetes Awareness Month, and the Diabetes Society of Santa Clara would like to invite residents to its Willow Glen office in the Garden Theatre Mall, located at 1165 Lincoln Ave., Ste. 300, on March 31 for a free blood screening test.

Participants can reserve a spot on a one-hour tour of the offices that begins at 10 a.m. and then receive a glucose test to determine whether they are at risk for diabetes. If test-takers register a reading above the normal range, health-care providers give a tutorial on diabetes and suggest a follow-up appointment with a physician.

According to the American Diabetes Association, 18.2 million Americans live with diabetes. One-third of them do not know they have the disease. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in California and is more common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Additional risk factors to Type II diabetes include being overweight, maintaining a sedentary lifestyle, having a family history of diabetes, giving birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds and being older than 45.

Junior League awards $25,000 to nonprofits

Thanks to the Junior League of San Jose, the holiday season came early this year for some local nonprofits.

On March 2, the organization awarded $25,000 in grant funds to seven charitable agencies--Campbell Parent Participation Preschool, Estrella Family Services, the Emergency Housing Consortium, San Jose Family Shelter, Learning and Loving Education Center, Resource Area for Teachers and HOPE Services.

The Junior League of San Jose is a nonprofit organization of women committed to improving the community through voluntarism. Each year, the league sets aside money from fundraising efforts to help other nonprofits in the area.

YMCA campaign able to raise $1.5 million

The Village People may have not had a hit in decades, but the YMCA of Santa Clara Valley is alive and well.

The nonprofit raised close to $1.5 million in its recent fundraising campaign, marking a 6 percent increase over last year's efforts. It is the largest amount of money ever raised by the organization. All the money raised in the campaign goes directly back into YMCA programs.

"This year, in spite of the enormous tsunami relief efforts in Asia and other economic challenges our community continues to face here locally, the YMCA continues to be encouraged by the remarkable show of support and participation from its many donors and volunteers," said Robb Hermanson, YMCA of Santa Clara Valley vice president of financial development.

Teens can be Olympiads in the arena of arts

Entry forms are now being accepted for the 2005 Olympiad of the Arts competition. The event, which encourages creativity in the cultural environment, is held each spring to promote excellence in the arts.

The competition is open to students of community colleges and lower-division four-year colleges and high school students who are residents of Santa Clara County. Contestants compete in acting, dance choreography, vocal and piano performance, photography, poetry and short-story writing. There are also visual arts categories for high school students. Winners in each category receive awards at the Olympiad of the Arts Awards Ceremony, to be held at the West Valley College theater on May 1. This year's event is sponsored by West Valley-Mission Colleges Foundation and Montalvo Arts Center. Additional support comes from Arts Council Silicon Valley and the Saratoga Rotary Art Show.

Application deadlines and contact information vary for each category of competition. For more information, visit www.mis sioncollege.org/community/olympiad.