Army Private First Class and native Bronxite Jonathan Caceres is coming home from active duty in Iraq for 18 days in February – just enough time to marry his fiancée Serena Ramirez at the Inn at Fox Hallow on Long Island on Feb. 17.

In an effort to help involve parents in their child’s arts education, the Center for Arts Education, a New York City nonprofit, recently awarded a handful of local schools with grants for the spring semester.

Bronx Blood Drives The Hudson Valley Blood Services are hosting blood drives in the Bronx during February. The blood drives will be at Love Gospel Assembly, 2315 Grand Concourse, on Monday, Feb. 11, from 2:30 to 8 p.m.; Monroe College-King Hill, 2501 Jerome Ave., on Tuesday, Feb. 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; St. James Park Recreation Center, 2530 Jerome Ave., on Wednesday, Feb. 27, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; 52nd Precinct, 3016 Webster Ave., on Wednesday, Feb. 27, from 10:30 am. to 6:30 p.m.; and Evander Childs High School, 800 E. Gun Hill Rd., on Thursday, Feb.

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Onstage  A free hand-crafted shadow figures show presenting Jack and the Beanstalk will be featured as a four-part mini series including short stories, vignettes and songs from children’s literature, traditional puppet theatre, and the puppeteer’s imagination. This presentation takes place at the Mosholu Beacon Youth Center at PS 8, 3010 Briggs Ave., on Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. Please arrive at 12:45 p.m. for seating. For more information, call (718) 329-0595/6.    The Bronx Library Center hosts Flamenco Music and Dance by Gazpacho Adalu, a flamenco fusion band, a blend of Adalusian, Hispanic-American, jazz and North African music, Feb. 9

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For those who knew, loved and worked with the late Dr. Leandro Lozada, the pain from his abrupt and senseless death is still fresh, like a scab that has yet to harden. Just over a year ago, Lozada, the pediatrician who founded and ran Hispanic Pediatrics, a children’s health clinic across the street from Poe Cottage in a rough section of North Fordham, was brutally murdered in his Westchester County home.

Despite the fact overall crime in New York City dropped to record lows in 2007, crime numbers in the northwest Bronx’s 52nd Precinct stayed remarkably unchanged from the year before.

Plus, see a breakdown of crime stats by neighborhood.

Kids file into the auditorium of PS 8, free from classes for the day. They laugh and tease one another playfully before their afternoon snack, as Christopher Villafane registers them in his laptop.

Each day after school, children from PS 8 and surrounding neighborhood schools attend the Beacon Program, a free citywide community-based initiative to serve children after class ends. The program can be found at 80 different locations throughout New York City.

Middle School 80 is asking their students’ parents to "show them some love" through volunteering, in an effort to educate children through a community of learning.

The New York City presidential primaries will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 5. To find out if you are registered to vote and where you can cast your vote, call (212) 487-5300 or visit www.vote.nyc.ny.us.