Matthew Shepard Scholarship, Kid's Fundraiser, Norovirus: Cedar Falls Wednesday Roundup:

Light Exchange:

The picture is from our Cedar Falls Eyes and Ears citizen journalist Tumblr page, a place for Cedar Falls citizens to upload news and pictures they see around town. Click here to submit news and see what's been submitted.

AmeriCorps has set up Christmas light collection points at , Maucker Union, the and the Waterloo Public Library. Drop off you broken or unwanted light strings for recycling and enter to win a new string of energy-efficient LED lights. Drop off is through Dec. 30.

Stay Healthy:

Norovirus is in Iowa, with confirmed outbreaks in five counties (not including Black Hawk), but likely in plenty of other parts of the state as well. To avoid getting sick or spreading the germs yourself, wash your hands, frequently, especially before eating or preparing food.

Awesome Things:

Big Patch congrats to the students of , and to school custodian Pam Eckhoff, who died her hair pink after children at the school raised more than $1,000 for the Northeast Iowa Food Bank, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported. Eckhoff has breast cancer and is undergoing treatment.

Matthew Shepard Scholarship:

Applications are available online and due March 15. The fund supports openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender graduating Iowa teens. The Silver scholarship awards $9,000 over four years, usable at any college in the U.S. The Gold scholarship awards $40,000 over four years at any of Iowa's three public universities.

Call for Photos:

Your photos could be used to help draw people to Iowa. The Iowa Tourism Office is in need of photos of your destinations and attractions, to be used for general reference, online and providing to travel media. Contact Kathy Bowermaster (kathy.bowermaster@iowa.gov) for more information.