On the first day of Christmas...
I'm already getting ready for Thursday morning's breakfast - hope you are, too! I love this meeting, and not just because the Liberty a capella choir is singing, and Rick Santee's going to be accompanying our singing with his accordion, but because this meeting, like the one before Thanksgiving, brings both Bethlehem clubs together for fun and fellowship. We really need to remember and give thanks that we have two vibrant clubs in Bethlehem! NOTE - this meeting tends to run past 8:30am!!!
We had such a nice discussion this past Thursday with District Membership Chair & District Governor Nominee Herb Klotz. He talked about a study he had done of growing clubs, and the five characteristics of these clubs which he attributes to their successes. The first, and the one that was the most common and evident in all, was that the president of the club and the club itself put recruitment and membership forward as a high priority in their efforts. We also learned that we are tied for the most new members to a club so far this year - and we're at seven! The good news: I know of at least four more people right now who have expressed interest in also joining, so that would put us well ahead of the pack. Let's just keep pushing! We have been blessed with wonderful new members; we'll be installing the next new member, Karen Achey, on January 11th. We had hoped to install her this past Thursday, but conflicts got in the way.
Speaking of conflicts, we were unable to meet the Audrey Rafferty Scholarship recipient Isa Sanchez; due to the school delay she had responsibilities with her son. We will be inviting her back to the club to speak to us in April, during Child and Maternal Health Month. We did welcome Tiffany, Tina, and Kelly; they expressed their thanks for our continued support of the Nurse/Family Partnership and our commitment to honoring Audrey's memory.
We have had a number of people use the link to donate to purchase new winter coats for the kids at Thomas Jefferson - but we need to do a bit more! If you were thinking of making a donation of $20, $50, or $100, be sure to do it soon. We won't be distributing them until school is back in session in January but we should take the time now, over the holidays, to be sure we have all we need to order as many as the school will need. (See Operation Warm story below.)
Dates for your calendars:
December 28 - no meeting, but anyone who would like to meet, informally, for breakfast, we'll be meeting at 8am at Billy's Downtown Diner on Broad Street.
January 4 - we will NOT be meeting at the Artisan; instead, we will meet for a BREAKFAST meeting at Moravian Village
January 6 - Holiday Party hosted by the Longs
January 18 - Thank You breakfast for Sponsors of 5K/10K and Salute The Troops events
January 29 - we will be hosting the Emergency Shelter overnight - see Ginny Wolkoff if you can help
March 10 - Area 1 & 2 Community Outreach Food Packaging Project
In closing, I want to share with all of you a letter we received from the student we sponsor through Razia's Ray of Hope.
This is from Musal KhairMoh, our student (Age 10 Grade 4):
Hello. I am glad to have a chance to tell you how well I am doing. I just got my midterm results and done quite well. Also, I am trying to read different stories from my library. I am interested to know more about the world's different countries. We are so lucky to have a new library in our school. This year we have grown some vegetables in our courtyard. We have fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and lettuce. We also have grape orchards that will be ready to harvest in a few weeks. All my family members try to help as this is the only source of income. I always wonder about you once a day. I hope to meet you in person and thank you for changing my life.
Best Regards
