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Rotary Club of
Allentown West
Pres. Amir Famili
Area 1 Asst. Gov. Barb Bottitta
District 7430 Governor
Herb Klotz
 
MEETINGS:
Wednesdays at 7:30 a.m.
at Luther Crest
2nd and 4th Thursday
at 5:30 p.m.
at various locations
 
WEBSITE
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Here are the AWRC
Board and Committee
 Members for 2019-20
 
 
President - Amir Famili
President- Elect - Ralph Witcher
Vice President  -  Gary Englehardt
Immediate Past President - Jeanne Shipe
 
Secretary -John Scott
Treasurer - Chris Blechschmidt
 
Sergeant at Arms Committee -
     Mitch Huston, Ron Coleman & Len Salines
 
Service Committee and Domestic Grants Chair - Gail Micca
 
RI Foundation and International Grants Chair - DG Herb Klotz
Fundraising Chair - Len Salines
 
Evening Meeting Chair  - Barbara Kistler
 
Public Image Chair - Marlene Heller
 
Membership Chair - Mustafa Jaffer
 
Youth Services Co-Chairs - Bill Weber and Sue Weber

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GREETERS

 
Sep 11  --  Jean Masiko
Sep 18  --  Gwen Pongracz
Sep 25  --  Halyna Stegura
 
Oct 2  --  Ralph Witcher
Oct 9  --  Chris Blechschmidt
Oct 16  --  Ron Coleman
Oct 23  --  Dan Crane
Oct 30  --  Andy Drotar
 
Nov 6  --  Gary Heller
Nov 13  -- Scott Hock
Nov 20  --Dennis Houser
Nov 27  --  No Meeting
 

-NOTE that the Greeter Schedule also appears as a "site page" accessible on the left of our website Home Page without logging-in.

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THURSDAY  EVE  PROGRAMS
 
SEPT  12 at WEGMANS at 5:30 P.M. in one of the Lounges
The program will be President Amir discussing the 2019-20 budget,
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CALENDAR of EVENTS
 
     Sep 26th  --  DINING  OUT  AT, 6:00 pm, at Madeline's in Foglesville
 
     Oct 12  --  Yvette Palmer Purple Pinkie 5K race at LCCC
 
      Dec 6  --  Annual AWRC Christmas Party at Brookside CC in Macungie
 
 
Speakers
Oct 23, 2019
ABCs of Composite
Oct 24, 2019
@ 4th Thursday of the Month Evening Meeting
Oct 30, 2019
Student of the Month + Interact + Administrators
Nov 06, 2019
Health Check #3
Nov 13, 2019
Student of the Month + Administrators
Nov 14, 2019
@ 2nd Thursday of the Month Evening Meeting
Nov 20, 2019
Foundation Month Conversation
Nov 27, 2019
NO morning OR evening meetings this holiday week.
Nov 28, 2019
NO @ 4th Thursday of the Month Evening Meeting
Dec 04, 2019
Overview of Cedar Crest College – strategic areas of focus, demographic make-up & academic programs.
Dec 11, 2019
Community Bike Works
Dec 18, 2019
Allentown Symphony Association
Dec 25, 2019
No morning or evening meetings this holiday week.
Jan 01, 2020
Happy New Year! NO meetings this holiday week!
Jan 08, 2020
Quarterly Club Assembly + Treasurer's Report
Jan 15, 2020
Open
View entire list
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SPEAKERS  WANTED
      Please suggest or request speakers and topics for future meetings and send  your ideas to our President, Amir Famili.
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MEMBERSHIP  IS  EVERY  MEMBER'S  BUSINESS
 
Each of us should seek out good candidates for our Rotary Club. Ask them to breakfast or to our Thursday evening meeting.
 
 
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LOWHILL FOOD PANTRY:
 
Please remember that the Collection jar is at the registration desk for cash and check contributions.
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TELL  JEAN
 
     As you become aware of any member of our Rotary family that would benefit from our support with cards, flowers or visits, please notify Jean Machamer at jeanmachamer@ptd.net
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CONTACT INFORMATION
AWRC  ACTIVITIES
 
Kingdom Life Food Pantry:-  Jean Masiko – masiko@aol.com
 
Parkland Snack Packing:--  Gail Micca gailmicca@gmail.com
 
Lowhill Food Pantry and Northwestern Snack Packing: Amir Famili 
 
Membership:     Mustafa Jaffer mustafa@ebclv.com
Public Image  --  Marlene Heller  --  marleneheller@mac.com
TT6:  Len Salines – lenmary3657@ptd.net
 
 Dining Out:  Jean Machamer – jeanmachamer@ptd.net
 
Evening Meeting :  Barbara Kistler  barbara.kistler@rcn.com
 
Purple Pinkie Services: Barb Kistlerbarbara.kistler@rcn.com
                          
Purple Pinkie 5K at LCCC --  John Scott --     johnscottl@msn.com
 
Park Cleanup:  Dennis Houser – houserdah@gmail.com
 
Miracle League:  Dale Heffner – dheffner@electrochemical.net
                             Barb Kistler – Barbara.kistler@rcn.com
 
  Meals on Wheels:  Dorothy Bloom – bloomnbunny@ptd.net
 
Kids of Character:  Gwen Pongracz – gwen.pongracz@gmail.com
 
Speaker suggestions:   Amir Famili
Website Editor: Marlene Heller  marleneheller@mac.com
 
RLI:   website www.rlinea.org        
 
Threads of Change - Foster care support --  Dale Heffner  dheffner@electrochemical.net
                         
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Check out the AWRC
Facebook Page
See Home Page link
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Bulletin Editor
Bill Palmer
Russell Hampton
ClubRunner
ClubRunner Mobile
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A HUGE SUCCESS !!!
OCTOBER 12, 2019 AT LCCC
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         QUOTE of the WEEK --

         “A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.”
          ― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free     Bunyan  

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JAFFERS MAKE NEWS
 
Mustafa and Murtaza were featured in last week’s edition of the Business Journal:
 
 
A Conversation With: Mustafa Jaffer of Express Business Center.
 
Go to:  https://www.lvb.com/conversation-mustafa-jaffer-express-business-center/
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SEPTEMBER  DINING  OUT
 
We’re planning on Thursday, September 26th, 6:00 P.M., at Madeline's in Foglesville
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Allentown West Rotary  Club
Meeting, Notes – September 4, 2019
 
 
Our Greeter today was  Bill Palmer  and he did a spectacular job.
 
President Amir Famili rang the bell at 7:30 A.M. to open the meeting and welcomed all. Then Ernie Boll gave a very nice invocation.
 
Secretary John Scott. began the meeting having the members recite The Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Then he led us in reciting the Four Way Test. John also reviewed some upcoming events.
 
 
GUESTS:
Laurie Grube, almost a new member; Carl Zvanut’ Dr. Elizabeth Stanton, and Sally Wright, from Engineers Without Borders and guests of Diana Dunn. Honorary member Wendy Weaver was with us this morning.
 
AWARD TO JEANNE SHIPE:
Past President Jeanne Shipe was awarded her Past President’s pin by John Scott. John also noted the special recognition that Jeanne received from Senator Pat Browne.
 
 
JAFFER PUBLICITY:
It seems that E.B.C. got some publicity. See separate article.
 
DONATE TO POLIOPLUS:
Pres. Amir passed around a sign-up sheet seeking donations to match with $500 to total $1,000 for PolioPlus. The District-wide Purple Pinkie 5K race is on October 12th.
 
 
AWRC MEMBERSHIP PLAN:
Gwenn Carr distributed hard copies of the approved plan and highlighted some of it. One part is that we will concentrate on Retention, for example. At next week’s meeting we will honor a Rotarian of the month.
Pres. Amir asks us to volunteer to be members of the Membership Committee. Please contact Gwenn, Mustafa, or Amir.
 
 
Gwenn also said that we will be testing Rotarians’ knowledge of our great organization. For example she asked about two other guidelines for Rotarians’ behavior bedsides our motto and the Four Way Test. These are “The Object of Rotary,” and the “Code of Conduct.”
 
LOWHILL FOOD PANTRY:
This great group still depends on cash donations from AW Rotarians. And volunteering for the produce pick-up and distribution on Saturday mornings is a very satisfying thing.
 
DINING OUT --  SEPTEMBER:
Thursday, September 26th, at 6:00 P.M., at Madeline’s in Fogelsville
 
THURSDAY EVENING  MEETING:
Sept. 12   at WEGMAN’S at 5:30 P.M. is our next meeting.
 
NEXT  MORNING MEETING:
Sept. 11  with  Jean Masiko as our Greeter. .The program will be PDG Doug Cook (Collegeville RC) explaining about the RI Council on Legislation & Resolutions, and how YOU can make a Rotary rule get changed.
 
Pres. Amir introduced Mitch Huston who conducted the drawings and collected Happy Dollars.
 
The door prize bottle of wine donated by Bill Palmer was won by Laurie Grube.
 
 
The $56 pot of the 50:50 was WON by David Haight’s ticket being drawn  followed by the Black  marble. Many marbles will be back next week.
 
 
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Dan Crane paid a dollar to ask that the club reinstate the practice of fining members as we used to do.
 
Diana Dunn is happy to have three E.W.B. friends here today.
 
Jerry Frank is praying for the Webers who have decided to remain in the Hilton Head, S.C. area and ride out the hurricane.
 
 
Ralph Witcher also asks for prayers for the Webers.
 
Wendy Weaver is happy to have Halyna and Mike hosting her this visit. And she mentioned an adult beverage event.
Wendy says we should come to The Villages in Florida. There are 3 Rotary Clubs and she has a spare room.
 
Halyna Stegura is happy to have Wendy here today.
But she is nervous that daughter Mary, an employee at DisneyWorld, is in charge of the “Ride it Out Crew” for the hurricane.
 
 
Marlene Heller is happy for the fabulous weekend in Syracuse celebrating her birthday with family. Husband Gary gave her a gift of a trip to Israel. Also she is happy that her Mom is doing well after a stroke a few weeks back. And she is happy to see Jeanne Shipe back with us today.
 
Jeanne Shipe put in a dollar for each of the TEN airports she was in over this recent trip.
 
Laurie Grube is happy to have won the wine today.
 
Gail Micca is just happy. Ernie Boll is too.
 
FULL HOUSE:
There were 28 Rotarians and guests at today’s meeting.
 
 
PROGRAM:
Our program today was AWRC member Diana Dunn telling us all about the upcoming Sierra Leone Global Grant Project.  Diana had three members of Engineers Without Borders here as her guests:   --  Carl Zvanut, Dr. Elizabeth Stanton, and Sally Wright. These folks all are involved in the Hospital project.
 
 
This just approved Rotary Global Grant is for $50,000 of work and training at the Hospital in Matru, Sierra Leone. It falls into the “Disease Prevention and Treatment” area of focus. The hospital is only a few miles from the Centennial School where we have done other projects with EWB over the last 10 years.
 
Diana describes Health Care In Sierra Leone as having a Severe Shortage of Doctors (less than 150 in a country of 7.8 Million). The Community Health Officers (CHOs), midwives and nurses provide the medical care. The Skill level of medical professionals is lower post their wartime.
 
They operate with a mixture of private and government hospitals in Sierra Leone. A very large number of NGOs are supporting medical facilities. And nearly all hospitals receive outside financial support (not self-sustaining.) And it is important to know that government law is that Hospitals can’t charge for maternal care --  a large portion of their work.
 
The Matru Hospital was founded in the 1950s by US missionaries from the United Brethren in Christ (UBC.). They provide services in Maternity and pediatrics. They have 60 Beds, 4 wards, and 70 employees.
 
There are a lot of Challenges: infrastructure, attracting and maintaining qualified staff, financial, management. A US Branch continues to support the Hospital –both financially and through onsite missionary support. And they are 2.5 years into an 8 year initiative to strengthen the hospital. US doctor (Jon Yoder) and RN (Pam McKee) are onsite for the last 2.5 years.
 
The Grant Components are:
• Housing for Key Health Care Providers
• Continuing Education for Medical Providers, and
• Training for Administrative staff.
 
The Housing for Key Health Care Providers involves a rehabilitation of their International House to provide four individual living quarters.  Also they will set up an On-call room for midwifes. And there will be a Computer/Study station for employees.
 
The Continuing Education for Medical Providers will use a new Training conference room equipped to allow remote teleconferencing. They will establish a collaborating educational team for continuing education. And there is a potential partnership with a Lehigh Valley Residency program.
 
The training for Administrative staff. Will be in finance and management. The nearby Bo Rotary Club members will coordinate. And volunteers from Allentown West Rotary are welcome to work locally or in Matru.
 
Diana responded to some questions, one relating to the source of the $50,000 to pay for the grant. It was explained that these Global Grants are financed by monies our District 7430 Rotarians donate to the RI Foundation Annual Fund a few years back. AWRC current funds are not used, but we always must strive for replacement dollars to the Annual Fund.
 
CLOSING:
Pres. Amir closed our meeting by our reciting the saying “One profits most who serves best.”
 
         Photos are by Marlene Heller
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Excuse me, do you have her email?
 
Yes! And so do you!      If you are a member of Allentown West Rotary, you have a ClubRunner (CR) account, and your phone number and e-mail address are in CR.
 
Need to contact a member for any reason? Download the ClubRunner app – it’s free, of course – and sign in! If you don’t know your password and login information, call Bill Palmer, and he will walk you through the process.  Why Bill? Because everyone knows how to get in touch with him! (Hint: just reply to this newsletter!)
 
Why would I want to use ClubRunner?
 
ClubRunner helps to organize us as a club. It is the platform for all our communications, and offers members an opportunity to stay in touch on various levels.
 
Here are just some reasons people use CR:
  • To call a member on club business, such as to get a ride to a meeting, find out the logistics of an event, or ask for help in getting club business done.
  • To make plans for a social gathering.
  • To check on their birthday so you could send a card. Or their address, same reason.
  • To check on their address before you head over to their house for an event, meeting, or to drop something off.
  • To find their email or phone number. Or work address.
  • Because you’ve forgotten the name of their spouse and you were up all night trying to remember it.
  • Find out the proper spelling of a member’s name.
     
What’s your best use of Club Runner?
 
                            By Marlene Heller
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CASH  REWARDS  FOR
RECRUITING  NEW  MEMBERS
 
Members of our RC are offering $100 as an incentive for any Member who successfully recruits a new member. You will receive the $100 when your recruit is inducted. This offer is good until 12/31/2019. You can win more than once."
 
PROPOSED  CONTEST
 
Our Membership Team has proposed a contest between  the Female members and the Male members of our RC.  One or more prizes will be awarded for the group that brings in the most inducted new members by December 31, 2019.
 
The actual contest prizes are unknown for now. We are looking forward to suggestions for the prizes from you other members. Please tell Gwenn Carr.

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 Here is a link to our District Governor Herb's latest Newsletter:

CONNECTIONS

https://clubrunner.blob.core.windows.net/00000050086/en-ca/files/homepage/connections--september-2019/DGNL-September-2019.pdf

 

 Give it a try. It is informative and entertaining.

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BIRTHDAYS
 
 
 
Marlene Heller       Aug 31

 

Jennifer  Stinson             Sep 02
Bob Gordon                     Sep 08
Mike Stegura                    Sep 09
Dennis Houser                 Sep 20
MaryFrances Salines       Sep 18
Jean Masiko                     Sep 30

Anniversaries

 

MaryFrances & Len Salines       Sep 24 1988           31 years
Gwenn Carr & Gary Englehardt   Sep 29 2001         18 years

 

JOIN  DATES

 

Bill Palmer             24 years       Sep 01 1995
Ronnee Klotz         3 years        Sep 14 2016
Geoff Legg             45 years       Sep 15 1974
Shawn Fejes          1 year           Sep 26 2018
 
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