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Rotary Club of Allentown West
Western Lehigh County
Club No. 5415 District No. 7430 Zone 32

Allentown-West Rotary is a community of friends, working together.

We travel and share experiences with other Rotary Clubs.

Our Happy Dollars are the happiest dollars you will find!

Welcome to Allentown West Rotary!

We’re glad you stopped by; we’re proud of our club and how we serve our local and international communities. On this website you’ll learn a little bit about what we do, but the best way to learn about us is to see for yourself. We invite you to join us at any meeting or service project to learn more. Be our guest!

Allentown West Rotary focuses on two main areas locally: food insecurity and developing our youth.

Food Insecurity

Despite the many farmer’s markets, supermarkets, food programs, and perceptions people may hold of a particular zip code or neighborhood, there is too much food insecurity in the area we serve. Whether it’s due to temporary circumstances, such as the pandemic, or long-term concerns, there are families who have difficulty putting food on the table every day. AW Rotary has several ongoing programs that address hunger and food insecurity in our communities. Volunteers are dedicated to these programs; stocking shelves in Kingdom Life food pantry, handing out produce at Lowhill Food Pantry, creating snack packs for students in the Parkland and Northwestern school districts. We also provide both funds and volunteers for the Meals on Wheels program.

During Covid, this need has been even greater, and the number of families we serve has grown. We now have our own Green Thumbs Garden Project, where we grow our own vegetables and donate them to the food pantries. Volunteers are always welcome in the garden to hoe, sow, water, weed, harvest, and pack up the food for distribution.

Green Thumbs Garden Project

Our expanding Green Thumbs Garden Project provides opportunities for local youth ages 5-18 to learn organic gardening practices and grow food for those people in the community who need it the most. Volunteers in the garden help to hoe, sow, weed, harvest, and distribute produce at local food pantries. Watering needs to be done often, and there is always a need for people to help with that.

More volunteers are always welcome! Visit the Garden's Facebook page to learn more!

Green Thumbs Garden Project Facebook Page

Developing Youth

Many of our programs are focused on the young people in our communities. They include sponsoring a Student of the Month, giving out scholarships to high school students, sponsoring foreign exchange students, and supporting the Four Way Speech Contest. Camp Neidig, a youth leadership camp, is a highlight of the youth program, and students come back from it full of praise for the skills they’ve gained. In addition, our programs overlap in that some of our food programs directly benefit the children in our schools. For instance, Snack Packing is a way of ensuring that children who receive meal program assistance at their schools will also have food to eat on the weekends when they are not at school. Dictionaries for third graders was a favorite program for many members; some of the children who received these dictionaries had never owned a book and were excited to learn they were theirs to keep. More recently, however, educators have told us that most students use the internet as a resource instead of a dictionary, so new programs in literacy are being considered to replace the dictionary project, as we change with the times.

Depending on fundraising and community needs, there are other programs that we will support each year. Community Bike Works is one such program for 2020; funds were allocated and distributed to purchase two bicycles for this wonderful community program.

Purple Pinkie Race to Zero

Every year, Allentown West hosts Rotary District 9430 in the Purple Pinkie Race to Zero; the effort to eradicate polio from the earth. We’re getting close! In 2020, Africa was declared polio free, and that leaves just two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, where there are any cases of polio left.

But it’s hard work. It requires polio vaccines, and volunteers from many countries who need to navigate difficult conditions and unusual terrains to get the vaccines to the children who need them. Educating parents and getting them to understand the necessity of vaccinating their children requires training as well.

The Purple Pinkie Race to Zero is a major fundraiser that takes place every year. As much as $56,000 was raised, and was double matched by the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation. The event is a huge success in that it is a fun event, surpasses our fundraising goal, and brings us together in fellowship for an important cause.

Since 2020, the pandemic has caused us to think differently, and the virtual Race to Zero still managed to raise $40,000, showing that our community cares about eradicating polio. Despite the impact to the community from the pandemic financially, emotionally, and physically, our friends and neighbors still came through!

Having Fun and Making Friends

Let’s not forget one of the best parts of Allentown West Rotary – the people! We get together to socialize, as friends, whether we are fundraising, helping others, or just having fun. Some meetings are “dining out” evenings where we get together as friends, or picnics on a beautiful summer afternoon. We believe our club is the fun club, and we hope you’ll want to get to know us and see for yourself!

New Tribute Cards Support the AWRC Foundation

Send Cards to Support the Allentown West Rotary Club Foundation

Send a Thank You, Condolence, Congratulations, Thinking of You, In Honor of, In Memory of, or Just Because card and make a donation to the Allentown West Rotary Club Foundation at the same time.

Our new Tribute Cards are here and ready to send out! You fill in the reason for the card on the top lines and your name on the bottom lines, and mail it out. On the front is a beautiful photograph of a familiar farmhouse in the Lehigh Valley. Inside, recipients will see that the purchase of the card goes to fund the Foundation of our Rotary Club, and they are invited to learn more at our website. On the back is some information about Rotary and our areas of focus.

Cards are sold in packs of 5 for $25, plus shipping.