The Greeter this morning was Michaela Luzicova, our Youth Exchange student, and she did a very good job.
President Herb rang the bell at 7:30 a.m.
Mike Henry had each of us give a silent prayer for the season, with special mention of Mae Hostetter and Dawn Costello.
There were 52 members and guests making up today’s meeting. Wow.
GUESTS:
Michaela Luzicova, Youth Exchange student; Jeanne Stock; Virginia Sandoval, guest of the club; Michele Iobst; Ralph Witcher, guest of Jean Masiko; Allison Blechschmidt; Pam Hawes, guest of Bob Nagle; Beverly Moyer and Jennifer Holman.
Beverly and Ken Kistler, Nancy Holbrook and Peg Laxson representing the Lowhill Food Pantry were guests.
And Sue Bryant of The Parkland Press was with us complete with camera.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Last week we held another Thursday evening Happy Hour meeting. See article.
Dec 16th was the Parkland Snack Packing with 25 volunteers, including Interact students.
Dec 16th and 17th volunteers went to work at the Lowhill Food Pantry.
The Christmas gifts for the children came out as 3 each for 101 of them through the Food Pantry. Many were funded by AW Rotarians.
Our next Thursday evening meeting is the January 14th Networking Mixer at Wegmans in the Timber Room starting at 5:30 P.M.
PLEASE determine the names and contact information for candidates for membership and send them to Mike Gschwendtner. Mike has a few but many more are needed.
The ShelterBox campaign is on through December. Consider donating in the name of family or friend as a Christmas Gift.
Ideas for AW District Grant projects for RY 2016-17 are needed; tell Dan Crane.
Chad Butters continually updates our Facebook page. Check it out.
Members are asked to return to Herb the requested information about being the Rotarian of the Week. He’s running out of data.
President Herb asks us all to e-mail him about any announcements to be made at future meetings so he can include them as part of his planned agenda.
Next week our scheduled Greeter is Dorothy Bloom, and the program will be Joe Sibilia with Special Holiday Entertainment.
LETTER FROM LISE:
Herb read to us a letter from Lise Twiford who misses us all. Her new job is in Philadelphia but she plans to stay here in Allentown. She is traveling a lot to awful places such as Hawaii and San Diego. Lise may visit other RCs and become our traveling Rotary Reporter.
CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR MICHAELA:
Herb asked Michaela to come forward and he presented her with a Christmas card and gift from the members.
ROTARIAN of the WEEK:
The AW “Rotarian of the Week” is Dr. Barbara Kistler a Math Professor for 23 years at LCCC, with over 30 years of teaching experience. Barb joined Rotary in 2004 and was impressed by the strong female leadership in the club. She has chaired the Youth Services Committee, and was our club President last year. She has gone on a Friendship Exchange to Mexico, and worked on the Night in the Country event for years. For our District 7430 Barb is the PolioPlus committee Chair. Barb always is proud to be able to provide support of the many Rotary projects.
LUCK of the DRAW:
The door prize bottle of wine donated by Bill Palmer was won by our Rotarian of the Week, Barb Kistler. Then Chuck Ehninger snagged a white marble and did not win the $56 pot of the 50:50.
FINES:
S-a-A Don Davis fined Dale Heffner for leaving early, Mustafa for his picture in the paper, and himself for calling Mustafa by his brother’s name, Murtaza.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Jeanne Shipe is happy that now the daylight time each day is increasing.
Mary Anne Wright is most happy that the NW Middle School students raised over $17,000 and donated them to the LVHN Pediatric Center.
And she is happy that her granddaughter is playing basketball in the Middle School.
Bill Palmer is happy that his four grandchildren are nearby and will be with him this week a few times.
PROGRAM:
Barb Kistler who helps with getting volunteers for the Lowhill Food Pantry, introduced Nancy Holbrook and Bev Kistler to tell us about this great project. Barb noted that this is an example of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Nancy said that over 700 lbs. of produce was received just this week. She emphasized that the Food Pantry is supported by the entire community, and in many ways.
In 2008 some folks decided that a Food Pantry was needed. They contacted Second Harvest for guidance and became an agency of theirs. Joe and Terry Mitling were involved from the start.
Their website says: “
Christs Church at Lowhill Food Pantry opened its doors in May, 2009 in a one room school house on the grounds of Christs Church. The mission of the pantry is to serve the residents of Lowhill, Lynn, Heidelberg and Weisenberg Townships who are in need of food assistance. The pantry is partnership with area churches, Second Harvest Food Bank, and the community at large.
The pantry is managed by an all-volunteer work force and is governed by a steering committee. They now have over 100 volunteers.AW Rotarians get a whole lot of credit for their financial support and many volunteer hours. Thanks to Gloria and Dale Hostetter there has been fresh produce available for many months, unlike similar pantries.
The atmosphere at Lowhill is upbeat and full of hope. Unlike other pantries, Lowhill provides carts and boxes and the clients search the shelves as they would in a supermarket. The clients are treated with respect. We each are invited to come for a tour.
Bev said that when the Pantry first opened it served two people. In November 2015 they served 100 households which is 359 people. The eligibility is based on the household’s income. Clients can come 3 times a month and collect food for 5 or more days. Also there is a separate area offering personal care items, diapers, cleaning supplies, pet foods and even used clothing, books and games.
Nancy said that it is an honor to be serving with AW Rotarians in support of the Snack Pack Program. For some time we have been serving 84 children twice each month. Today they announced that starting in January Snack Packs will be distributed WEEKLY in the Northwestern district.
Gloria Zimmerman went to the microphone and asked Mary Anne Wright to come too. The members of AWRC presented the people of the Lowhill Food Pantry with our annual Business and Professional Service Award.
Barb presented Bev and Nancy with a plaque for public display at the Pantry. Barb gave a bit of history noting that in 2010- 11 when Bob Gordon was President, we secured a District Simplified Grant that allowed us to donate a computer to the Food Pantry.
CLOSING:
Halyna Stegura hit the right note to start a nice rendition of “God Bless America.” This was followed by the recitation of the Pledge to the Flag of the United States and then the saying “One profits most who serves the best.”
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