The promotional products company ROK Enterprises will present a holiday open house on Tuesday, Oct. 24, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at 3118 University Ave. in North Park to benefit the local foster parenting agency Walden Family Services.

More than 150 promotional products for the holidays and beyond will be on display, and ROK will donate 10 percent of all profits to Walden Family Services, which works directly with at-risk youth to help pair that child with a trained and certified foster parent or family.

Walden Family Services is one of the only foster parent agencies that actively seek out GLBT parents for child placement. They offer intensive training to ensure that each child is placed in a loving home.

“There are so many kids out there that just need someone to love them,” said Marie Fasholz of Walden Family Services. “These kids have been moved from foster home to foster home with nothing but a plastic trash bag filled with what little clothes they have.” For more information, contact ROK Enterprises at (619) 283-2294 or visit www.rokenterprises.com.

The next San Diego PFLAG meeting will take place on Monday, Oct. 23, at the First Unitarian Universalist Church at 7:00 p.m.

The meeting will consist of support groups followed by a cookie social and a presentation about PFLAG board members. Learn what each board member does to keep the group up and running.

The First Unitarian Universalist Church is located at 4190 Front St. Hillcrest.

Call (619) 579-7640 for more information.

Metro Area Real Estate Professionals for Young Adult Housing (MARYAH) is holding its first annual Harvest Howl to benefit The Center’s Youth Housing Project on Thursday, Oct. 26, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Top of the Park, located at 525 Spruce St.

Costumes for the event are optional but encouraged. There will be live entertainment, featuring Ria Carey. Local restaurants and caterers including Baja Betty’s, Bill Bond Catering, Buster’s Beach House, Capers & Sage, Chipotle, La Pizzeria Arrivederci, Lei Lounge, Ono Sushi, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Your Place or Mine Catering. There will also be an open bar for the first hour hosted by Ivan Solis of New Century Title Company.

The Center’s Youth Housing Project is one of the first projects of its kind in the U.S. and provides 23 units of affordable, supportive housing for youth between 18-24 years of age, with a special focus on gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning and HIV-positive youth. These high-risk youth are currently transitioning out of foster care and/or group homes, or living in the streets or in public spaces after having been ejected from their homes because of their sexual orientation. The Harvest Howl will raise funds in support of this program.

The Oct. 26 event is underwritten by MARYAH, Michael Portantino, publisher of the Gay & Lesbian Times, Brett Kayzar of Reliable Home Inspections and Matt Young of MDC Financial Service Group. All proceeds from the ticket sales will go directly to support the Youth Housing Project.

Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door, and may be purchased online at http://harvesthowl.kintera.org or in person at Obelisk Bookstore, located at 1029 University Ave.

MARYAH is a group of real estate professionals whose goal is to provide additional, supportive funding for the Youth Housing Project. The group has set a goal to raise $30,000 this year to sponsor housing units for two young adults.

For more information, call The Center at (619) 692-2077 or visit www.thecentersd.org.

The Center will host a community forum to address concerns and questions about how to deal with a friend, lover, partner or family member who is struggling with crystal meth use. The free event will take place on Thursday, Oct. 26, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at The Center, located at 3909 Centre St. in Hillcrest.

The forum will feature a presentation by Dr. Michael Majeski and Julia Kusian, M.A., from The Center’s Health Services Department. The forum will address crystal meth use, why meth is so appealing in the GLBT community, the consequences to the GLBT community and what the larger community can do to help.

“The Center’s Health Services is committed to continuing our efforts to explore options to help solve the crystal meth problem in our community,” Majeski said. “We remain deeply concerned about the impact of this drug on the health and well-being of our community. It is my hope that we can all work together to avoid even greater loss to this highly-addictive drug.”

For more information, contact Michelle Morrison at (619) 260-6380 ext. 105 or e-mail mmorrison@thecentersd.org.

The University of San Diego (USD) Nonprofit Leadership & Management Program and the Center for Applied Nonprofit Research present “Beyond Regulation: Tools for Promoting Ethical Action in Nonprofit Organizations” on Friday, Oct. 27, at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice. The workshop takes place in conference rooms A-D. Registration will begin at 7:30 a.m. and the workshop will run from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.

The event will involve a presentation of tools and ethical guidelines that evolved from in-depth discussions held at USD last year with more than 168 nonprofit practitioners.

There is a $25 charge per person. This fee includes a light breakfast and ethics tools that will be distributed at the event.

For more information, call (619) 260-7442.

CJ Gallery will host an opening reception for artist Sunho Choi to benefit the Moore’s UCSD Cancer Center on Saturday, Oct. 21, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Choi is widely recognized as one of the leading artists from South Korea, with works in museums and galleries in Asia and across the U.S.

CJ Gallery is located at 343 Fourth Ave. in downtown. For more information, call (619) 595-0048.

John Rinaldi, Democratic candidate for California’s 52nd Congressional District, announced that Democratic Congressmember Barney Frank will be headlining a lunch on Saturday, Oct. 21, at 12:30 p.m.

“We are in the final push for this election, and Duncan Hunter has never been more vulnerable,” Rinaldi said. “Rep. Frank has been a good friend to this campaign, and it gives us all a chance to spend some time thanking him, as well as raise money for our last few weeks’ push to Election Day.”

“The voters of the 52nd District have one of the clearest choices in the country this November,” Rep. Frank said. “In John Rinaldi, they have a candidate of high integrity, demonstrated patriotism and a deep commitment to the values that most Americans hold. Duncan Hunter, in contrast, has been one of the leaders in the right-wing Republican regime that has undermined our values and which threatens to cause a further deterioration in our country’s position, both domestically and internationally.”

Interested parties can contact the Rinaldi for Congress Campaign at (619) 270-1249 to make reservations. Suggested donations are $250. For more information about the campaign, visit www.rinaldiforcongress.org.