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The Rotary Club of Bethlehem

Celebrating 109 Years of Service

We meet In Person & Online

Wednesdays at 12:00 PM

Prime Steakhouse

325 Stoke Park Road
Bethlehem, PA 18017
United States of America

Full A/V & internet available for speakers. Server will take individual food & beverage orders. Lunch cost is $25, including tip. Limited menu with 5 lunch options. NOTE: 1st Wednesday each month we have an evening social at various locations.

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World Affairs Seminar

Thao Do was our guest speaker on 8/27 to tell us about her transformative experience as a student delegate at the World Affairs Seminar. The week-long experience provides an opportunity for international students from a variety of backgrounds to discuss issues in a non-threatening environment. This Bethlehem Catholic HS Student is the first person in Rotary District 7430 to attend the World Affairs Seminar. Thao was sponsored by our club as a student delegate at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin in June 2025. This year's theme was Peacebuilding: Creating Lasting Change.

BackPacks

On August 22, Rotarians joined together to hand out backpacks to the students of Donegan Elementary School. Thanks to Rotary and CALV for filling our backpacks and giving these students a joyful start to their school year!

Pictured are: Joan Pierce, Cheryl Doll, Lori Knerr, and Darlene Heller.

Student Leaders Making a Difference

We’re sending a huge THANK YOU to Jamie Mantilla and Violet Mitchell from Liberty High School Interact Club for their incredible support of Bloom!

These two passionate students organized a bake sale and also showed up strong at the Highmark Walk, raising an amazing $500 to support survivors of sex trafficking and exploitation.

Thank you for using your voices and your time to make a real impact in our community.

Exchange Student

We co-sponsor an exchange student from Warsaw, Poland - Antek Grous. He spoke at our club on May 14 about his family and the cultural experience of living abroad and attending Liberty High School. Pictured is Antek and his host Mom, Sara Collins.

Join the Movement Luncheon

Rotarians attended Join the Movement Luncheon, a Bloom for Women event at the Hotel Bethlehem. Panelist shared their expertise, while survivors of sex trafficking inspired us all with their powerful stories. We collected 4 cars full of clothing to donate to My Sister's Closet, a woman's charity boutique in Bethlehem. Thanks to everyone that supported this project. We also presented a check for $1,000 to Carol Anderson, CEO of Bloom. What a difference this organization is making in the Lehigh Valley, and we are proud to support their mission. Change happens when we stand together!

Kivutini School Project

We have partnered with Morning Star Rotary of Bethlehem on a grant to renovate a primary school in Kenya. Working in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Machako, Kenya, we are providing a brighter future for these children.

2024 Holiday Luncheon

Our annual Holiday Luncheon at the Historic Hotel Bethlehem. Rotarian, Hank Barnette and Charlene Donchez Mowers spoke about Bethlehem's designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Also, we had a surprise musical guest, Rick Santee from the Morning Star Bethlehem Club to help get us in the holiday spirit.

Toys for Tots 2024

Toys for Tots drop off at the Hotel B Ice Cream Parlor.

We filled 4 boxes - Our biggest collection since we started 5 years ago.

Thank you Pete Mickolay and everyone that contributed.

Photo from left-right:!

Liberty HS Interact Club

Hotel Bethlehem

Lehigh Valley Chapter Penn State Alumni Assoc.

Rotary Club of Bethlehem

Southside Tomorrow Presentation

The Rotary Club of Bethlehem met on July 17th for the first time at our new location - the Perkins on Bethlehem's South Side. Our guest presenter was Anna Smith, Director of Community Action Development Bethlehem, a subsidiary of CACLV. Anna spoke eloquently about "Southside Tomorrow" -- a multi-year program of community engagement and development.

Our own Ham Malek has been a volunteer working for eight years on the housing committee, having followed Dale Kochard in the same role. Anna is looking for Rotarians willing to train to serve as mediators between tenants and landlords to help preserve relationships and prevent evictions. If you're interested, you can contact her at asmith@caclv.org.

Click HERE to see Anna's exciting presentation.

Polio Survivors Serving Others

Carol Ferguson spoke at the June 26, 2024 meeting about how Rotary's efforts in support of the World Health Orgnization's live-oral vaccination program has helped the World Health Organization accomplish nearly 100 percent elimination of wild polio virus throughout the world. The low cost of live orally-administered vaccines makes them widely available, yet because the vaccine uses a live form of the virus, the virus can derive variants that may have paralytic capabilities. The speed and volume of air travel worldwide makes the spread of such novel viruses likely, even in the US where we are used to thinking that Polio no longer exists. Thus childhood vaccination in the United States cannot be emphasized enough. Please take a few minutes to watch this important video, that Carol intended the audience to see on Wednesday, but that would not run on the Moravian Village projection system.

Click HERE to watch.

BAVTS Students Create Electric Car

Overr the summer of 2023, two BAVTS automotive technology students and their instructor retrofitted a gas-engined ccar with a brand new electric power system.

The "Grand Unveiling" ceremony took place on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 12:30 pm with remarks by very special guests. Light refreshments were served.

Bethlehem Rotarians were invited to join BAVTS faculty and students in celebrating this achievement.

Our Club is a Shelter Box Hero

2023 Centennial Children's Park Spring Cleaning

On Saturday May 13th on a beautiful day, a lucky dozen Rotarians gathered to help spruce up Centennial Park on Bethlehem's Sand Island as preparation for the park's gentle offering of tranquility and beauty for parents and children over the warm months of spring, summer, and fall. Special thanks to Rotarian and past president Pete Mickolay who provided the mulch and gardening tools used with such great impact. Thanks Rotarians.

Cliek HERE to see photo album.

Why I finally joined a Rotary Club

Erin Maloney had never given much thought to joining a Rotary club. She had little interest in the traditional Rotary model of weekly meetings. But after attending the 2020 Virtual Rotary Convention led by her brother, 2019-20 RI President Mark D. Maloney, she discovered several reasons to join, including an increased flexibility and people who share her interest in ending modern slavery. Learn more of her story on our blog, Rotary Voices