Welcome
________________________
AWRC History supplement
March 1, 2021
A Year With a Pandemic
Our 2019-20 club President, Amir Famili, faced a once-in-a-lifetime unusual situation in mid-March 2020 when President Trump shut down the so-called non-essential businesses, etc., due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But on April 1st of 2020 Amir introduced us to a Wednesday morning Zoom meeting for the first time.
Using the virtual Zoom platform, our RC conducted its weekly meetings, except for holidays, right through to March of 2021 (as this is written). The 2020-21 president, Ralph Witcher, led those meetings, as did Amir, as if nothing had changed except the medium. The new platform allowed the club to include more guests from remote remote locations, including from Japan, Mongolia, Arizona, Florida, and South Carolina. We continued with Happy Dollars and a program. Students of the Month ceremonies, scholarship awards and Paul Harris Fellow recognitions all took place.
Prior to the Zoom meetings we had been meeting at Luther Crest Senior Living in Allentown, since 1995 and attendance ranged from 20 to 32 people depending on the time of year and the speaker. As we did the Zoom meetings, the on-line attendance ranged from 24 to 50, depending on the same variables, but with a few more guests.
Even during the pandemic our members found ways to conduct many ongoing service projects, and we expanded some relating to feeding more hungry people. A summary of our 2020 activities follows.
____________________________
WHAT AW ROTARIANS DO TO SERVE
AWRC Service Committee Report for 2019-2020 by P-E Gail Micca:
Cancer Support Awareness Group
(Gwenn Carr), Wings of Hope Event Sept 7th – Dottie Bloom volunteered. Sept 28th – Allentown Rotary Club was looking for Angels/buddies – Katrina Sundstrom and her family volunteered October 23rd – Miracle League Trick or Treat (Jean Machamer) Barb and Jeff Kistler and Gail Micca volunteered with Jean and the NW Interact members for a special night of Trick or Treating at Miracle League.
Kingdom Life Food Pantry (Jean Masiko)
On a monthly basis, AW Rotary volunteers and friends stocked shelves at Kingdom Life Family Center (KLFC) Food Bank from July 2019 through February 2020. From March 2020 through the end of June, many AW Rotarians and family members helped distribute food and supplies via weekly and bi-weekly drive through food bank giveaways. Over the past year KLFC Food Bank served thousands of families throughout the Lehigh Valley region.
Lowhill Food Pantry Produce (Amir Famili)
Produce was purchased from local farmers and Produce Junction, $300 per month. Occasionally, Rotary members volunteered the first Saturday of each month to give out the produce. Amir took the lead in procuring the food.
Meals on Wheels (Dottie Bloom and Gail Micca) NEW
AW Rotary provided $1080 for 30 new coolers to be used on deliveries. Vicky Coyle came to speak to our club and update us on their new facility changes. Jeff and Barb Kistler, Ed and Gail Micca, Ron Coleman and Dennis Houser met at Trinity Baptist Church and delivered meals from 11am-1 pm on November 11.
Parkland C.A.R.E.S Grant (Gail) NEW
Total grant $6,000, provided for immediate start-up needs, including two refrigerators, an upright freezer, 4 tables, 4 chairs, a computer, 2 printers, ink, paper, 30 storage totes, waste baskets and entrance mats. When the Covid-19 pandemic became apparent, the grant was able to shift focus to meet the changing needs that included large coolers for the drive-by deliveries that hold meat and dairy products, in addition to 16 additional folding tables, 15 additional storage totes, paper grocery bags and rubber gloves (these items were in lieu of shopping carts and reusable grocery bags). Although there were many moving parts to this grant, it was satisfying to see so many important needs being met by our Rotary Club. Excel spreadsheet is available.
Snackpacking: Parkland (Gail)
Storage - Beginning in September, Glenn Hahn at Jordan Lutheran’s Food Pantry provided storage for our Second Harvest purchases in its food pantry. Glenn has been extraordinary to work with and very gracious in providing this to us, flexible with scheduling deliveries and he also fundraised $250 for our Parkland Snackpacking fund through a church-sponsored Murder Mystery dinner.
Budget/expenses/outcomes: Budget was approved for $6,000, but less than $4500 was spent despite offering more than usual snackpacks March, April, May, and June. Our relationship with Second Harvest has proven to work very effectively at keeping costs reasonable. We updated our bins this year as the old ones were breaking and lids were missing.
Total snackpacks delivered this year – 2,805
Parkland School District 2,225 plus cereal, pretzels, and corn
Parkland C.A.R.E.S Food Pantry – 240
LCCC: 280 Snackpacks plus cereal and extra snacks
Lowhill: 60 Snackpacks
Production:
October – February: Volunteers from AW Rotary and Greenawalds church set up the tables with the help of Nancy Snyder in the hallway of Parkland High School monthly from October 2019 to February 2020. Each month we packed 240 and occasionally 300 as we increased production to offer snackpacks at the high school this year. Jude Sandt worked with staff and administration to collect food anddistribute additional weekly snackpacks at the high school as need increased.
Covid-19 changed our operation and food was limited to what was available through Second Harvest and eventually we were able to purchase from Costco again. Packing of snackpacks has been done at home instead of the school.
Snackpacking: NW (Nancy Handwerk and team)
Nancy and her team supplied snackpacks until Mid-March. Recently, we have been offering snackpacks through the Lowhill Food Pantry and they have been well received.
Highway Cleanup (Dale Heffner and Gail Micca) NEW
Approval for Adopt-a-Highway in Fall 2019 – section is Route 222, between Newtown Rd to Farmington. Two cleanings took place Oct. 19 and June 27. Both were a success and the signs with the club name is visible. Dale Heffner, Scott Hock, Andrew Drotar, Len Salinas, Dennis Houser, Herb Klotz, Amir Famili, Gail and Ed Micca cleaned in October. Dale Heffner, Scott Hock, Andrew Drotar, Len Salinas, Dennis Houser, Herb Klotz, Laurie Grube, Diana Dunn, Gail and Ed Micca cleaned on June 27th. This project will be ongoing.
Dictionary Project – (Amir Famili)
Amir led another successful delivery of dictionaries to third-graders in area schools including Salisbury and Kernsville. Private donations were collected for a family in need in Jim Thorpe.
Total of $450 was collected for Holiday gifts and gas cards.
Painting project at Center for Vision Loss (Gail Micca and Dale Heffner) NEW
Beginning in November, our club undertook a rather large painting project at the Center for Vision Loss under the direction of Doug Yingling. Our Rotarians did an excellent job and brightened the facility with vibrant blue doors to contrast against the walls so patrons can see better as they make their way through the building.
Several new Rotarians joined us with this project.
Green Thumbs Garden Project (Gail Micca) NEW
In an effort to provide more fresh produce to our local pantries and also give members an opportunity to serve and work together with their families, this project was born. The inspiration began with the raised beds which were returned to our club after we had purchased them as part of a group grant that fell through.
Donations from club members, Ron Coleman ($200), Murtaza Jaffer ($200), Sue and Bill Weber ($75) and Gail Micca ($400) have provided the necessary funds to make this a success. In addition, $400 in soil and plants was donated by Lowe’s and $50 in soil from Home Depot. Currently over 200 plants are thriving in a plot at the Cedarbrook Community Garden. Volunteers are requested. Sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904044faead23a1fe3-allentownwest
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Allentown-West-Rotary-Green-Thumbs-Garden- Project-104692271300150/
Ontelaunee Park Mulching (Dennis Houser)
Dennis, Len, and Herb did a great job mulching at Onelaunee Park in New Tripoli on March 28th. This is a good project to continue and grow participation and service opportunities. Unfortunately, with the untimely pandemic, many people chose not to participate.
Hand Sanitizer and Goggles for Luther Crest (Amir and Gary E) NEW
In partnership with club members, funds were raised to purchase hand sanitizer and goggles in a critical time of need for Luther Crest staff and residents.
Mask Making for Phoebe Homes and Second Harvest (Gail and Marlene) NEW
Together, we sewed over 150 masks for Phoebe Homes and Second Harvest with donated supplies from Gail.
Ear Savers for LVHN Staff
Marlene crocheted and delivered over 100 ear savers to use with face masks to staff at LVHN Cedar Crest in July, made with supplies she donated.
Additional grants were written and approved in spring of 2020 for Community Bikeworks for tool kits as well as a Produce grant for Parkland C.A.R.E.S Food Pantry. The produce grant begins in July 2020 and continues monthly for one year. Volunteers are needed to shop, divide, and bag the produce and also deliver at the pantry.
_________________________
DIVERSITY ANALYSIS
FEB 7, 2021 AWRC ROSTER
During 2020, RI emphasized to all RCs the desire to have their membership diverse and reflecting the communities they serve. Below is a summary of AWRC member characteristics.
AWRC --- Active = 58 AND Honorary = 11 Total studied = 69
28 Female, 5 = Honorary 23 = Active
FEMALE: 28/69 = 40.6% 23/58 = 39.7%
Rotary world-wide has 23% female as of July 2020
JEWISH faith
4 out of 69 = 5.8% 3 out of 58 = 5.1%
Lehigh County, PA = 1% Jewish
MUSLIM
3 out of 58 active = 5.1%
In Lehigh County 0.9% are affiliated with Islam
COLOR
3 out of 58 active = 5.1 % Black
in Lehigh County Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) = 5.19%
HISPANIC
AWRC = zero
In Lehigh Cty White (Hispanic) (15.1%), Other (Hispanic) (6.06%)
___________________
Appendix:
f. AWRC ROSTER FEB 7, 2021
ACTIVE = 58 HONORARY = 11 Total = 69
Basile, Christopher S. Honorary 70
Beach, Donna Active 70
Bieber, Ann Honorary 70
Blechschmidt, Chris Active 50
Bloom, Dottie Active 70
Boll, Ernie Active 70
Carr, Gwenn Active 50
Coleman, Ronald Active 70
Costello, Dawn Honorary 70
Crane, Dan Active 70
Dries, David I. Honorary 80
Drotar, Andrew Active 70
Dunn, Diana Active 70
Ehninger, Charles F. Active 70
Englehardt, Gary L. Active 60
Famili, Amir Active 30
Fedoriw, Ihor N. Active 70
Fejes, Shawn Active 70
Fenstermacher, Stephanie Active 70
Frank, Jerome B. Active 70
Friday, Thomas Active 70
Goldner, Sharon Active 60
Gordon, Bob Honorary 70
Grube, Laurie Active 70
Gschwendtner, Michael Active 70
Haight Jr., David Active 70
Handwerk, Nancy Honorary 70
Heller, Gary Active 70
Heller, Marlene Active 30
Henry, AJ Honorary 70
Hock, Scott Active 70
Hoffman, Keith Active 70
Houser, Dennis Active 70
Huston, Mitch Active 50
Ikeda, George K. Honorary 70
Jaffer, Murtaza Active 70
Jaffer, Mustafa Active 70
Keller, Gilbert F. Active 70
Kistler, Barbara C. Active 50
Kistler, Jeff Active 70
Klotz, Herb Active 40
Legg, Geoff Active 50
Lewis, Albert (Al) Active 70
Machamer, Jean Active 70
Maier, Brad Active 70
Masiko, Jean Active 70
Micca, Gail Active 50
Nagle, Robert A. Honorary 70
Ott, Kathy Active 60
Palmer, Bill Active 30
Peters, Lori Active 70
Pongracz, Gwen Active 70
Randall, Shirley Honorary 70
Rushton, Thomas Active 70
Salines III, Len Active 50
Sandt, Jude Active 70
Schell, Justin Active 70
Scott, John Active 30
Shipe, Jeanne Active 60
Sniscak, Richard Active 70
Stegura, Halyna I. Active 70
Steiner, Michelle Active 60
Stinson, Jennifer Active 70
Sundstrom, Katrina Active 70
Weaver, Wendy Honorary 70
Weber, Bill Active 50
Weber, Sue Active 60
Witcher, Patricia Active 70
Witcher, Ralph Active 40
__________________________