At our August 16th meeting, Bethlehem Rotarian David Shaffer presented our club with a banner from the Rotary Club of Chicago, which is also called Rotary One. David was invited to the club’s meeting, and his Rotary pride compelled him to interrupt his busy schedule to attend. He reminded us that the Chicago club was not only the first Rotary club, but was actually the first service club in the world. Founded by Paul Harris in 1905, the club went on to become Rotary International in 1910, and now has 1.2 million members worldwide.
Bethlehem Rotarian Bob Smith gave us an update on our upcoming Tastes & Tunes Event which will be on October 1st. Our committee has been working hard to create a successful event. As president, I would like to see all of our members contribute in some way to our signature event.
Our Speaker was Jarred Weaver who is the Director of Lehigh Valley Summerbridge (LVS). As you know, our club supported Summerbridge this year with a $5,000 District Grant Award, which covered two students.
Summerbridge is a free, non-profit enrichment program hosted by Moravian Academy that is designed to assist Middle School students with academic potential and limited resources to enter and succeed in college preparatory programs. These students, comprised of both genders, a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds, and multi-lingual speakers, are likely to become the first generation in their families to become college graduates. All teachers in the program are enrolled in college degree programs and serve as mentors as well as teachers to these children. We also heard from both a student, and a teacher who participated in this year’s program. For them, Summerbridge was a life-altering experience.
A thank you is due to Roger Whiteley and Deb Geiger for their work in writing and promoting this District Grant, and Bethlehem Rotarians can take pride in our caring contribution to improve the lives of these children.
If you haven’t made a commitment to do your part in our upcoming Tastes & Tunes Event, please do so now.
The 7th Annual Rotary District 7430 Yvette Palmer Purple Pinkie 5K run is scheduled for Saturday, October 14, 2017 at LCCC in Schnecksville, PA. The proceeds of this event go to RI’s Polio Plus Program. Our club is one of the sponsors, and we have two slots available for anyone who would like to participate in the run/walk. Please let me know if you are interested.
Our Zone 32, along with Zones 24, 25, and 26 has been selected by Rotary International President Ian Riseley to hold the first Presidential Peacebuilding Conference on February 10, 2018 in Vancouver, BC. If you would like more information, please contact me, or you can also go to https://portal.clubrunner.ca/50004/Stories/presidential-conference . There is also a link on the District Website.
At the Rotary International Convention in Atlanta this week, global leaders and key donors affirmed their commitment to ending polio. The historic pledges of new funds will go toward drastically shrinking the $1.5 billion gap in the funding that is needed to reduce cases to zero.