Celtic Classic 5K Race is over; THANK YOU to all volunteers: despite the rain it was a great event. Financial results to come shortly. Leftover 5K shirts available (4 extra large, 2 2XL); reach out if you want one
Monocacy Creek Watershed cleanup scheduled for Sunday, October 11, 2026 was canceled due to the heavy rainfall. We look forward to participating in their cleanup next spring.
Club meeting speakers are booked through December, thanks to Shawn and Cheryl!
Youth Programs now have leaders for nearly every program! THANK YOU Bruce, Leah, Bill H, Justin, Susan, Cheryl, and Dana, Cheryl, and Diane from the Bethlehem Club!
Salute the Troops Concert: Presenting and Music sponsors are secured! Program book ad deadline has passed and it is going to the printer, but checks can still be sent. Do not return unsold tickets - give extras away instead. A Victory House board member is buying tickets for all Victory House residents! THANK YOU MOLLIE AND RICK!
Charlotte celebrated her 86th birthday and graciously made her traditional donation to the club's charitable foundation, plus a few happy dollars. THANK YOU CHARLOTTE!
If you have a turkey to spare, consider donating to benefit Lehigh Valley families through New Bethany - Friday, 11/20 from 7am - 3pm at Coca Cola Park.
Please join Bethlehem Morning Star Rotary this Thursday, October 15, 2026, for our Live/Hybrid Meeting.Our meet & greet starts at 7:15am with the regular meeting starting at 7:30am.
Our speaker will be Alyssa Sarnosky, Crayola Engagement Specialist.
Crayola Through the Years
Crayola's Community & Employee Engagement Specialist Alyssa Sarnosky will take us through the history of Crayola, originating in Easton as Binney & Smith, and bring us up-to-date with the most popular children's crayon company in the world.
Jinnie, our 2026-2027 Morning Star Rotary inbound Rotary Youth Exchange student from the Rotary Club of Nakhon Sawan in Thailand (District 3350), gave a presentaiton to our membership on October 8, 2026. Jinnie is 17, a junior in high school, plays basketball, and lives with her parents and 2 older sisters above the family's wedding studio shop; she shared photos from a Short-term Exchange to Japan, her 3 favorite Thai dishes (red curry, green curry, and a chili-basil dish), and examples of her home club's charity work, including donating sports equipment to underprivileged schools and hosting a badminton championship. She said she became a Youth Exchange Student to improve her English, build confidence and communication skills, and share Thai culture, and plans to return to Thailand to repeat 11th and 12th grade before studying industrial engineering in college.
At our October 8, 2026 meeting, Chris Cassidy, Planning Director of New Bethany, thanked Morning Star Rotary for our $10,000 Community Grant and gave an update on the organization. Founded in 1985, New Bethany serves anyone without judgment through a renovated choice-model food pantry, a drop-in center, and a supportive housing program that now moves clients into permanent housing within 18 to 24 months rather than indefinitely; in 2025 it served over 40,000 hot meals to 1,100 neighbors, moved 45 families into permanent housing, and distributed 380,000 meals to 3,200 neighbors through its pantry. Chris described a worsening affordability picture in the Lehigh Valley, including a 41% rise in Bethlehem rents since the pandemic and a 156% increase in unsheltered homelessness, and said Morning Star's grant was well timed given a 40% jump in pantry visits tied to SNAP cuts and the loss of a USDA food-purchasing program that had brought in about $7,800 a month. She closed by previewing 2 upcoming events: the Bob Price Memorial Turkey Drive and Luminaria Night.
Flatiron Building, 5th Floor Community Room
