The Rural Outreach Center (ROC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting rural poverty, will host its fourth annual “ROCtober” event from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, at Elm Street Bakery, 72 Elm St., East Aurora.

The event will feature food by Elm Street Bakery, wine provided by Reed’s Wines and Liquors, beer, music by Doug Yeomans, and a custom-made cherry coffee table handcrafted by local artisan Jim Conell-Cordes and valued at $2,800. Raffle tickets for the coffee table are available for $10 each or three for $25. The drawing will take place the night of the event.

Positive ways to take action on environmental issues will be addressed at the 13th annual Western New York Environmental Summit taking place Sept. 30 at Daemen College.

“Get Involved: A Toolkit for Action,” which is free and open to the public, is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to noon in Daemen’s Wick Campus Center. A continental breakfast will be provided for all event attendees.

“This year’s event is designed to educate attendees on how they can make a difference and have a positive impact on environmental issues,” said Dr. Brenda Young, program director of global and local sustainability. “Understanding the tools that are available to create change will help make efforts more effective in our communities.”

The Environmental Summit will kick off with a keynote presentation, “Empowering Your Organization Brand Through Social Media, to be given by Daniel Wangelin, owner of [re]noun creative, a Buffalo-based design and marketing company.

The Western New York Land Conservancy will host its annual gala in the Golden Ballroom at Statler City from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26. For more than 26 years, the regional land trust and its thousands of supporters have saved more than 6,000 acres of forests, wetlands, meadows and farms in the eight counties of Western New York. These places include, among many others, the Stella Niagara Preserve in Lewiston, Owens Falls Sanctuary in Aurora and farmland throughout the region. These places are protected forever because of the Land Conservancy and the efforts of its members.