Free money is available to help students pay for college, and free workshops to be held across the state will provide help filling out the form required to get those dollars.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is the form that opens the door to all types of financial aid, including free money for college in the form of grants, scholarships and low-interest student loans.

Students and families can benefit from nearly 60 FAFSA Week workshops and 29 College Goal Wisconsin events held Feb. 13 to 19. With more than $150 billion in federal financial aid available to those that complete the FAFSA, Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation is making sure students know they “Hafta FAFSA” to get their share.

The next FAFSA event will be Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 10 a.m. at 30 Ash St.

The inaugural Chinese New Year Celebration will be held on Saturday, Feb. 4 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Madison Memorial High School.

Gerhard Fischer, an international education and world languages consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and David Dettmann, an assistant director for outreach for the Center for East Asian Studies at UW-Madison, are scheduled to speak at the opening ceremony.

Chinese dumpling cooking demonstrations by students and local community members will follow along with other activities. Some of the activities include:

• Lion dance show
• Arts and crafts
• Calligraphy making
• Beijing Opera mask
• Making Panda puppets
• Making Chinese lanterns

After lunch, there will be an hour of student performances and presentations.

If you've ever tried to cross a busy street in Madison, you know how treacherous it can be. Now add winter and mobility issues and you have the proverbial recipe for disaster.

Southwest Madison TRIAD is trying to work toward better safety for those trying to cross Schroeder Road. Since it was repaved, traffic seems to fly faster than ever there.

TRIAD is a organization of older adults that works to improve safety and health for older adults. They don't get a lot of attention, but this meeting tomorrow already has more than 20 sign-ups. Alders have been invited too.

The pedestrian safety issues will be discussed at a meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 10:30 a.m. at Prairie Parks Apartments at 6530 Schroeder Rd.

Mark Winter, City of Madison Traffic Engineering, will speak at the meeting.

For more information contact, mstamstad@rsvpdane.org.