Minnesota briefs: Foundation in Duluth raises awareness of child poverty

A foundation in Duluth is hoping to start bridging the city's "opportunity gap" by bringing people together for soup, bread and problem-solving conversation.

The Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation is inviting residents and others to dinner Wednesday as it launches a new "Opportunity Rising" public awareness campaign to tackle the relatively high rate of poverty affecting children.

About 21.5 percent of the city's children live in poverty, higher than the state average of 12.2 percent and the national average of 18 percent.

Residents attending the dinner will be asked to sign a pledge supporting work to improve opportunities for all children and families.

Discussion will include ways that residents can make a difference by mentoring, donating and volunteering or by helping neighbors with rides to work or rides home from after-school activities.

The event will run from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Lincoln Park Middle School, 3215 W. 3rd St.

Attendees are asked to RSVP to 218-726-0232 or info@dsacommunityfoundation.com

A local blacksmith and metal fabrication company is offering veterans a chance next month to pound some metal.

Ken's Custom Iron is sponsoring an event for veterans designed to provide a creative and physical outlet by learning the fundamentals of blacksmithing.

No previous blacksmithing experience is necessary, the company assures.

The event, which is free to all military personnel past and present, is scheduled for Nov. 10 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

To sign up or learn more about the blacksmithing session, visit the company's Facebook page at facebook.com/KensCustomIron or the company's website at KensIron.com, or call 320-746-8161.

Adak, an explosives and firearms detection dog from St. Cloud, will be among the honorees in an upcoming nationally televised program.

Adak, who died in June at age 13, was honored in the military dogs category in the 2017 American Humane Hero Dog Awards.

The seventh annual Hero Dogs Awards is sponsored by the Lois Pope LIFE Foundation Inc. and will be broadcast nationally on the Hallmark Channel on Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. Central.

Adak was featured in a 2016 Star Tribune story about the company Dogs for Defense. He was an explosives detection dog whose career included support to dignitaries and celebrities in events across more than 10 states and three countries, including Iraq.

The Hero Dog Awards were created to celebrate the powerful relationship between dogs and people and to recognize acts of heroism performed by ordinary dogs.