Today was an In-Person meeting at Madeline’s Restaurant in Fogelsville. There were 25 of us in person and 5 more on Zoom.
Our Greeter was Chuck Ehninger. S-a-A Mitch Huston handled the Registration and the Happy Dollars and the 50-50.
GUEST:
Rose Phillips, Emmaus RC.
OPENING:
Pres. Gail Micca at 7:30 rang the bell and started the meeting.
Pastor Jean Masiko gave a very nice invocation.
Then Ron Coleman led us in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the U.S. Gail then led us in the recitation of the Four Way Test to which we added “Is it fun?”
AWRC HISTORY STORY:
PDG Bill Weber delivered today’s story about AWRC‘s work with Nick Millward. Nick was unable to join us.
CELEBRATIONS:
Pres. Gail displayed the list of April member celebration events.
STUDENT OF THE MONTH:
Rev. Jeff Kistler announced that our Allentown West Rotary Club Student of the Month for April is Allison Kozza, a Senior at Lehigh Career and Technical Institute. See separate article.
KATHLEEN OTT:
Pres. Gail reminded us of all of Kathy’s many contributions of service to our community and our club. We lost Kathy last week and she is greatly missed.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
AWRC 60TH ANNIVERSARY:
IT’S TWO DAYS AWAY !! We have 80 attendees signed up.
DISASTER RELIEF:
So far we have $1,50O towards matching what our Interact clubs have donated to the Rotary Foundation Disaster Relief Fund for Ukraine. You still can donate thru Friday, BUT please do it on line.
They still need medical supplies.
PDG Herb Klotz noted that the Rotary Foundation has raised over $10 million that will go directly to this cause.
PARKLAND C.A.R.E.S.:
Karen Rodgers will lead the next event on May 7th.
KINGDOM LIFE FOOD BANK:
The next distribution is on May 14.
ROTARY DAY OF SERVICE -- APRIL 30:
Jeanne Shipe will lead the AW Rotarians who will work to operate a day of “Shredding” at the Lower Macungie Township Building on Brookside Road. Anybody can bring up to 4 boxes of items to be shredded.
YAPPY HOUR:
Pres. Gail said that we are considering holding evening “Yappy Hours.”
SNACK PACKS:
Pres. Gail will Chair this program for the next few months.
Last Wednesday, April 20th, was the Northwestern Lehigh snack packing with Jean Machamer leading..
TODAY, April 27th is the next packing event at Parkland H.S.
MEALS ON WHEELS_
Helen Papathanasiou is Chairing the M.O.W. program for the next few months. Please let Helen know if you will substitute.
AWRC GREEN THUMB GARDEN:
Last Wednesday, April 20th, after our in-person meeting at the Parkland Community Library, we had a tour of the AW Gardens. It was a ribbon cutting ceremony.
On May 12th we will have a “Planting Day.”
“KINDER KINDNESS” PROGRAM:
This new program is underway. We have purchased and delivered 700 books for Parkland kindergarten children, and also 150 books for Northwestern Lehigh kids. AW Rotarians helped deliver them.
R.Y.L.A CAMP NEIDIG:
The Camp Neidig Registration Site is now officially open! Our 2022 Camp Neidig Youth Leadership Program will be held June 17th- June 20th at Camp Manatawny. All forms are available on that website https://www.campneidig.com/forms--registration.html.
If appropriate, PLEASE download the Neidig Chairperson packet as it has all the necessary registration instructions.
Proof of COVID-19 vaccination will be required for students to attend camp.
AW Rotarians are needed to volunteer for this weekend.
TRI-DISTRICT CONFERENCE:
Over last weekend the annual district conference was held at Hershey Lodge. Pres. Gail said she especially liked the Student Exchange program.
DGE Len Gieseler announced that the 2023 annual district conference will be held in Atlantic City, NJ May5 to 7.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
The $24 50-50 was won by our guest speaker. The $10 door prize was won by Chris Blechschmidt.
Ernie Boll is just happy.
Sue Weber said the district conference was great. And she is happy that Rose is here today.
Bill Weber noted that the conference involved three separate districts, which made it even more interesting.
Chris Blechschmidt reported on the P.T. student from Ukraine that was here a few years ago.
Herb Klotz also was happy about the conference.
Mitch Huston will see us on Friday evening. But then he will not be attending any AW meetings until June -- after his knee surgery.
NEXT MORNING MEETING:
Wednesday May 4th IN-PERSON at Madeline’s in Fogelsville. We will start at 7:30 A.M. Come early and chat.
Our program will be Barbara Kistler, Scholarship Committee, conducting the AWRC Annual Scholarship Presentations for NWL HS, LCTI & LCCC Students.
PROGRAM:
Program Chair Ralph Witcher introduced Bill Wright, CEO & Jim Byrnes, Board Advisor -- Helping Adults With Autism and Developmental Disabilities Lead Comfortable Lives.
Here are the basic talking points from today:
Using an interview format Jim interviewed Bill Wright the CEO. And he covered:
• Why did Bill start the Love Ran Red Foundation?
• What is Love Ran Red Foundation?
• How did LRRF begin?
• What is Duke’s Delites?
• What do you see for the future of LRRF?
• How can we as community members help?
The issue today is the people in the Lehigh Valley that have some degree of autism. Some of these folks are well adjusted and as adults can do well on their own. But there is a large group that need life-long supervision and care.
Bill’s son was born with autism and with his wife they have taken action to help. The challenges are two-fold. There is not enough housing for these young adults, and they need to have some form of work to do each day.
Love Ran Red Foundation (LRRF) is a Christian-based non-profit foundation dedicated to helping adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and developmental disabilities.
81% of adults with autism live with their aging parents. But what happens when their parents are no longer living, or no longer can take care of them? LRRF is dedicated to providing housing to adults with autism or developmental disabilities.
LRRF also has an employment program to give their workers a sense of purpose by giving them a job and something to look forward to. They have a bowling league that allows adults to have fun with their peers in the community.
And there is their company known as Duke’s Delites, which produces all natural dog treats. It employs young adults with autism and developmental disabilities. The healthy, all natural treats are handmade and packaged by them. The treats come in 3 flavors and 2 sizes. The workers are paid and have something to do.
Their plan is to build a 60,000 sq. ft. building to have 20 housing units here in the L.V. They want the employment to be next door.
They also plan to hold a “Prom” in 2023 for these folks.
They welcome any support from AW Rotarians. Herb Klotz told them about a new Rotary Club in Hamburg that has 17 autistic members.
CLOSING:
Pres. Gail led us in reciting our motto “One profits most who serves
best.”, rang the bell and adjourned the meeting.
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