Franklin High School senior Kendra Shearin is getting a little help to pay for her prom on May 14.

Kendra received $250 for winning an essay contest; the money will go toward the cost of her dress, and getting her nails and hair done.

The daughter of Bonnie and Ken Shearin, Kendra entered a contest sponsored by the recently formed Lady’s of Zaki social club, said member Joyce Wright. The club is named after Markeelyn Zaki Walton, the late son of club president Jackita Walton, who died from crib death on Aug. 11 at six weeks of age.

The club invited Franklin High School juniors and seniors to write a 1,000-word essay on peer pressure and bullying.

“There’s so many negative things, and we just want to show them they can do good, and doing good will be rewarded,” Joyce said.

The club plans to do more to help the community. At Christmas, members helped former International Paper workers and their families. The group also will participate in a March of Dimes’ fundraising walk.

The club has 42 members. Anyone interested in joining, should call Joyce at 757-775-8845 or Jackita at 757-416-2062.

n Franklin’s Dot Pugh loves stopping by The Tidewater News to share her latest news. The other day she came by with a turtle she rescued from the parking lot at the Food Lion in Franklin.

Dot planned to take the reptile to Barrett’s Landing and release it into the Blackwater River.

n Wakefield author Emily May Kennedy this week made a nationwide release of her inspirational fiction book, “Shipwrecked but Saved.”

In the novel, two small families headed to a mission field become shipwrecked on a remote island and their lives change forever. Feeling as though they’d been hindered from fulfilling God’s will for their lives, they resigned themselves to find a way to leave. But when they meet the island’s inhabitants, they knew God brought them exactly where they needed to be.

Published by Tate Publishing and Enterprises, the book is available through bookstores nationwide, from the publisher at www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore, or by visiting barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com.