Today was a ZOOM meeting and again there were about 40 of us on line. After 15 minutes of talking amongst ourselves with our Greeter being President Amir Famili, he opened the meeting at 7:45 A.M Chuck Ehninger gave a very nice invocation.
GUESTS ON LINE:
Dillon Scott and Allison Costa, Northwestern Lehigh Scholars; NWL Interact students Will Gruen, Emily Werley, and Erin Schock: Jennifer L. Holman,. Superintendent of Schools; Aileen Yadush, Principal NWL; Nicole _____and Erica Gross, NWL Counselers;
P-E Ralph Witcher began the meeting by having the members recite The Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Then he led us in reciting the Four Way Test.
Pres. Amir thanks all “first responders” and other Essential Workers for what they do and asks all to pray for them. And he reminds us that we are people of action.
LOWHILL FOOD PANTRY:
Pres. Amir delivered fresh produce to them last week. Their client numbers are up 15 times over prior times.
STATE FARM DONATION:
Pres. Amir thanks Brad Maier for the State Farm donation of food gift cards.
KINGDOM LIFE FOOD BANK:
Jean Masiko reports “Saturday May 16 at Kingdom Life Family Center Food Giveaway was very busy. Thanks to the Rotarians who helped, Lori Peters, Ralph Witcher, myself and faithful EWB member, Tom Powers. The four of us were spread out throughout the "giveaway line" so -- Sorry, no time to take any photos. With the help of many other volunteers we served 552 families in a little over three hours. The Food Bank gets special permission from the state to distribute these supplies and won't be doing the next Drive Through Food Giveaway until June. We hope more Rotarians will be available to help at that time.”
AWRC SOUND SYSTEM:
Thanks again from The Healing Place at Living Stone Fellowship for the use of Rotary's sound equipment. People are blessed that we are able to have services during this unusual time and many patrons want the Rotary to know how grateful we are. Hopefully, the Governor will soon move our region from the red to the yellow zone. The issue with having group gatherings in the yellow zone is that there are many rules and regulations to follow. The leadership at the church has decided to continue Drive In Services through the month of June. If the Rotary decides that they can no longer provide the sound system for our use in June, we certainly understand. We can't really express how much we appreciate the Allentown West Rotary and their support as a wonderful community partner. (Photo is from Sunday, May 17 service).
Jean Masiko
NEW PROJECT:
Gail Micca sent out an e-mail a week ago announcing --- “Our amazing club is taking on a new project - growing food for local food pantries. In this time of uncertainty, one thing is certain - we can still help and spending time in a garden may even help you too. It's a peaceful place and while you can socially distance, you can make a difference.”
If you think you might enjoy some time helping with the new Green Thumbs Garden Project, please email me so I can form a volunteer list to keep in touch.
SNACK PACKING:
Gail Micca reports that “We have packed 96 snackpacks to be delivered May 19 to the Parkland School District. With this pack, we have delivered 1,013 snackpacks within our district since the lockdown began - this includes the added 150 for LCCC.”
Thank goodness for Second Harvest and a big shout out to Herb for getting that connection going and to Jeanne who kept the program alive and encouraged me to get involved
HELP OUR TEMPTING TASTES FRIENDS:;
Our leaders have agreed to publically ask members and friends to support the Restaurants and food suppliers that have supported us in the past. Using Facebook, our weekly A-W Bulletin, and by buying gift cards and food from them.
Restaurants and providers are now hungry for our support. Please consider ordering from them when you are looking for a break from your own cooking! You can also support them with the purchase of gift cards, for yourself or others. This week’s Featured Food Provider is Cindie Feldman of 29 Cooks fame. See separate article.
AWRC PEN SET AVAILABLE:
Pres. Amir showed a picture of a Rotary pen set with AWRC on it for sale at $100. Each purchase will put $90 into an account to provide food for the hungry Thanks go to Gail Micca for making this happen.
MORNING MEETINGS;
President Amir Famili has suspended all AWRC face-to-face meetings until further notice. ZOOM meetings are now scheduled for each Wednesday at 7:30 A.M.
THURSDAY EVENING SCHEDULE:
May 28th at 5:30 P.M. we will hold a ZOOM meeting. Just show up and smile with a drink in your hand optional.
NEXT MORNING MEETING:
Wednesday May 27h starting at 7:30 a.m. We will use ZOOM to meet together with appropriate distancing. Our program will be Dr. Bryon Grigsby, President of Moravian College discussing The Economic impact of AICUP school and Moravian College.
SCHOLARSHIP AWARD:
Barbara Kistler said that today’s awards are the last ones for this Rotary year. Barbara thanks her committee for their good work. The scholarship selection committee was comprised of Barbara, Amir Famili, Gwenn Carr, Gary Englehardt, and Laurie Grube.
The Northwestern Lehigh High School Scholarship Winners are Dillon Scott—Northwestern Interact Scholarship Award, and Allison Costa—Northwestern Scholarship Award.
Barbara conducted the on line award ceremony. See separate article.
Dillon was first and afterwards said his future plans His parents, Claire and Mark Scott were with him. Counselor Erica Gross said that Dillon’s commitment to service makes us proud.
Allison spoke of her plans to attend DeSales. Allison’s Counselor, Nicole, congratulated her for this award, as did Supt. Holman.
INTERACT CLUB DONATES A SHELTERBOX:
NWL Interact advisor, AWRC’s Jean Machamer, announced that despite the shortened face-to-face school year, the students have raised a little over $1,000 and are donating it to the AWR Foundation to purchase a ShelterBox. Thanks go to them all.
HAPPY DOLLARS and MEMBER NEWS:
Pres. Amir conducted this part and kept score on who owes how much money. BTW it is $2 for ZOOM happiness.
Ron Coleman is happy that our PA Governor now allows him to again sell real estate.
Gail Micca is happy that the new garden now has its fence installed. They will start planting today.
Jean Machamer is happy that we have NWL Interact students with us today.
Ernie Boll is very happy.
Amir Famili is happy that we all are in good health.
Dale Heffner is happy to report that the house used for needy families still is available for the East Penn Neighbors Helping Neighbors Foundation. They are interviewing now to select the next family to help. Their next financial needs may be the purchase of new mattresses.
Tom Friday is happy to announce that his only granddaughter will be 2 years old this Friday.
Bill Palmer is pleased to report that last Saturday May 16, his grandson, Nathaniel, was virtually graduated from the University of Virginia Law School with a degree of Juris Doctor.
Chuck Ehninger is happy to report that his grandson, Finley, has started to walk.
Halyna Stegura said they had a Zoom party for their grandchild.
Gary Englehardt is happy that his Mother will be 100 years old this Friday.
Jeanne Shipe attended a happy Zoom wedding last week.
Ralph Witcher had a great photo of their granddaughter as his background today.
Gwenn Carr noted that this week we urge members to support 29Cooks at their two sites.
PANEL DISCUSSION:
Barbara Kistler re-introduced Jennifer Holman and Aileen Yadush to have them respond to a series of questions about the NWL school operations since the shutdown.
On Friday March 13 when the school closing was announced there was a whole lot of new conversations and plans to be made to accommodate on-line teaching. Education and schooling had to continue. Top priority was having the “Grab and Go” food service up and running in the first week.
Another immediate need was to arrange for every student to have access to the internet and a computer. They were able to get enough donations right away.
When all of this began none of them really had heard of Zoom. It quickly became the virtual training platform. As it turns out, the Staff and the students are very, very resilient.
Both unemployment and under-employment create financial issues and social ones too. Also just the uncertainty of when this will be over makes it difficult to plan anything, And these educators are big-time planners.
They have adjusted the teaching times to match the needs of families that are working from home. And they also support the Lowhill Food Pantry. And they had to arrange for on-line support of those students with special needs.
And counseling students on-line is very challenging. Sometimes they do e-mail exchanges and telephone conversations.
Things are not all bad. It seems that some students are more willing to participate when there is no audience to criticize them. The new system is working and all staff and students are coping well.
0res. Amir congratulated these great students, and their educators.
CLOSING:
Pres. Amir led us in the saying “One profits most who serves best.”
Photos by Marlene Heller
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