The Kutztown Rotary Charitable Foundation and Rotary Club of Kutztown held a Foundation Dinner celebration on November 15, 2023, celebrating more than $20,000 donated by the Club and Foundation to area non-profit organizations.
Representatives from the non-profit groups were invited to a dinner at the Kutztown Tavern, where the club holds its weekly meetings. The evening included a program by Club President Kurt Rohrbach and Foundation President Tom Kulp explaining Rotary Club service and fundraising activities of the Club and Foundation. Invited participants then addressed club members on behalf of their organization to tell a little about their organization and how they intend to use the donation they received.
Pictured here accepting awards for 2023 are representatives from Allentown Rescue Mission; Brandywine Heights Education Foundation; Burn Prevention Network; Friend, Inc Community Services; Hope Rescue Mission; iHART Harvest; Kutztown Area School District Odyssey of the Mind; Kutztown Community Partnership; Kutztown Library, Kutztown Strong, Reading Music Association; Topton Area Senior Citizens, and Topton Fire Co #1. Recipients unable to attend the event were Brandywine Heights Parent-Teacher Organization, Kutztown Fire and Rescue; Kutztown Historical Society, and Topton Mini Museum.
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The major fundraiser of the Kutztown Rotary Club to support community donations is the Taste of Kutztown event held in June. This past year celebrated the event’s 14th year, and the event has become the iconic early summer wine, spirit, brew, craft and food festival. attracting over 2000 visitors who experience offerings from over 100 vendors. A second smaller new Fall fundraising event for the club is the Ghost Tour, which was started in 2021.
In addition to these donations. the Kutztown Rotary Club participates in both international and local charitable and volunteer contributions annually. At the local level, members of the Kutztown Rotary Club participate in Student of the Month for Brandywine and Kutztown high schools, community activities through KCP and community clean-up events, local food bank events through Friend and Opportunity House, and The Potato Project. The Club also sponsors student programs for academic scholarships and leadership training to support community youth as well as Farmers’ Night to show appreciation to local farmers.
On November 1st, 2023, the 7430 District Governor Diane Donaher came to visit the club to talk about all of the wonderful things happening this year in Rotary. Diane is a member of the Bethlehem Rotary Club and a charter member of the Bethlehem Morning Star Rotary Club - both of clubs for which she served as president. Diane's vocation is nonprofit leadership, and she has worked with SkillsUSA Council and Civic Theater of Allentown and currently serves as Executive Director of Life House, whose mission is to prepare both pregnant women and mothers of infants for a life of self-reliance.
Diane's upbringing in New England inspired her District Govenor theme this year of creating beacons of hope - to create light that can travel across communities and the world. It is part of her job to visit each club District 7430 and during her visits she decided to present a "Beacon of Hope" award to one member in each club recognizing that member's commitment, dedication, and steadfast service to the club. Diane awarded the Beacon of Hope award to Jim Springer, who exemplifies the spirit of Rotary and is a true inspiration in our club.
Diane also helped us celebrate new inductees as Paul Harris Fellows as well as a new level for an existing Fellow. A Paul Harris Fellow is a member who has reached the $1000 donation level to the Rotary Foundation, which will be spent on Humanitarian efforts around the world. A Paul Harris Fellow is recognized for service to the club and the community. Pictured below are new Paul Harris Fellows, Tom Kulp, Melissa Kirk, and Joni McPike and 3 time awardee Kurt Rohrbach. Not pictured is a fourth new Paul Harris Fellow, Jim Sher.
Lastly, Diane also helped us celebrate the induction of two new members to the club, Janet Chladni and Kaleigh Grim. We are very happy to welcome Janet and Kaleigh and to help them find their niche in the club.
If you are interested in joining the charitable, yet fun, work of our club, please consider joining us at a meeting or service event. Please check out our calendar on our website: www.kutztownrotary.com.
Members of the Kutztown Rotary Club celebrated a Student of the Month ceremony on November 8th, 2023. One student from the Kutztown Area High School and one student from the Brandywine Heights Area High School are selected by school administrators each month throughout the school year for this award based collectively on academic achievement, school participation, and community contributions. Honored for November were Landon Kunkel from Kutztown and Meghan Miller from Brandywine Heights. The students addressed the club members at the Student of the Month Ceremony where they demonstrated qualities of exemplary students. The ceremony occurs during the Kutztown Rotary meeting on the first Wednesday of the month at the Kutztown Tavern, where the weekly meetings for the club generally take place.
Landon Kunkel is the son of Ethan and Jen Kunkel of Kempton. Landon is heavily involved in all aspects of farming. He has been active all through high school in the Kutztown Future Farmers of America and has been president for the past two years. Landon has also participated in his County 4-H program. He is currently taking classes through BCTC and learning the mechanical apparatuses of farming vehicles and machinery. He stays busy working at a dairy farm and serves as a volunteer for the Kempton Fire Co. Landon plans on studying Agricultural Mechanics at the University of Northwestern Ohio after graduating high school. Once finished with college he hopes to move to the Midwest and start a career in the farming industry.
Meghan Miller is the daughter of Tracy and Robert Miller of Mertztown. Meghan has stayed very busy in high school activities and has been a constant leader. She has been involved in soccer for 4 years and this season she has served as the captain. Over the past four years Meghan has participated in girls track and field with javelin being the prominent interest. In the recent past she has advanced to State and has been a New Balance Nationals qualifier. Meghan has also been involved in the Key Club and served as president. She has been vice president for the Eco Action Club for two years. For all of high school Meghan has been active as a school board student representative. When time allows she loves to read and spend time in the gym weightlifting. After graduation Meghan plans to go to Cornell University and major in Aerospace Engineering.
On November 29th, 2023, the club held our holiday service event where we filled 12 holiday boxes for Friend, Inc to distribute to families in need this holiday season. Each member brought in a component for the boxes, which were decorated and filled at the meeting. We had a lot of fun sorting the food and adding it to the boxes. Please visit our website to learn how you can join in the fun!.
Along with serving the community, members of the Kutztown Rotary Club like to be social. We do social hour meetings throughout the year, we have movie club meetings at area venues (which are turning into Friday night social meetings, LOL), and enjoy activities with other clubs.
This month, we visited the Kutztown Beneficial Association a couple of times (see picture below), did the last Trivia night of the year at Setter Ridge, and met up at Rising River over Thanksgiving weekend (see picture below). In addition, one of our members, Meghan Reeder, is a member of the Hamburg young adults with autism satellite club, which met at State Street Bowling for a meet up this month (see picture below).
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