Herb joined Rotary in 2011 and is a member of the Allentown West Rotary Club near Allentown, PA. He is currently a Zone 32 Assistant Coordinator for 4 Eastern Pennsylvania districts. In 2021-22, Herb will be the Zone 32 Rotary Coordinator. Herb was the 2019-20 District 7430 Governor and District 7430 Membership Chair from 2016-18. He played a key role in developing and implementing a strategic action plan to grow district membership which included both building vibrant existing clubs and adding new innovative clubs. From 2016-19, District 7430 increased its membership in 3 of the 4 years, added 4 new clubs and 4 satellites and had a net gain of nearly 100 members.
Herb is a retired chemical engineer and a charter member of Engineers without Borders – Lehigh Valley Professionals and has been actively involved in partnering with Rotary on global and district grant projects in Sierra Leone, Africa, and the Dominican Republic. He has traveled to both locations on multiple occasions.
Posted by Juliet Altenburg, Strategic Planning Chair
Our District is in the process of developing a strategic action plan which will provide direction for District initiatives starting July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2025. To create the best plan possible, we need your input through the completion of the following short questionnaire that will help District Leadership understand how best to serve YOU and your club in doing good in the world. The plan we develop will be based on Rotary International’s four priority areas described at Action Plan | My Rotary:
Priority 1 Increase our Impact
Priority 2: Expand Our Reach
Priority 3: Enhance Participant Engagement
Priority 4: Increase our Ability to Adapt
Click here to complete the questionnaire by Friday, October 8, 2021.
Results will be shared in an anonymous fashion in the future with all District Rotary Clubs. Specific Name and contact information will not be shared with anyone beyond the District Leadership Team (DG, DGE, DGN, DGND, Executive Secretary.) Thank you for your input and all the good you do in the world!
Posted by Anna-Mae Kobbe, District Rotary Foundation Chair
Sign up today for Rotary Direct and make your giving to The Rotary Foundation quicker and easier. With just a minimum contribution of $10 you can begin using Rotary Direct. And, each contribution is acknowledged at the time of your donation.
Click here to follow the information guide instructions to set up your Rotary Direct giving. You will be able to specify a frequency of monthly, quarterly, or annual contributions.
With World Polio Day October 24 and November is Foundation Month now is a great time to establish your Rotary Direct account. Then make your contributions to celebrate these two important dates by using Rotary Direct.
As World Polio Day approaches, the Rotary community is getting ready to amplify our message about eradicating polio to protect the world’s children from this devastating disease.
Together, we’ve made tremendous progress. Now it’s time to intensify our fight to make polio the second human disease ever to be eradicated. Last year, the World Health Organization’s African region was certified free of wild poliovirus, showing that eradication is possible even in very difficult circumstances. The wild poliovirus remains endemic in just two countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan. We can use World Polio Day to advocate for the support we need to end polio in countries where it still paralyzes children.
Inspire action Take action for World Polio Day by promoting the importance of polio eradication, raising funds, and planning events. Let’s engage our communities in the fight against polio — because as long as polio exists anywhere, it remains a threat everywhere.
Use the World Polio Day Toolkit to find resources and tips for planning activities and promoting a polio-free world. Inspire others to join us by hosting virtual and community events, creating fundraisers, and sharing posts on social media. Click here!
Register your club’s participation in World Polio Day to show how Rotary, Rotaract, and Interact clubs around the world are taking action to eradicate polio. If you register your events, fundraisers, and promotions by 14 October, you’ll get early access to a download of Rotary’s World Polio Day Global Update one week before the program will be shown on 24 October on Rotary’s Facebook page and endpolio.org.
Use Raise for Rotary to start an online fundraiser to benefit The Rotary Foundation’s PolioPlus Fund for World Polio Day. Then, share it with your network! The top Raise for Rotary World Polio Day 2021 fundraisers will be featured on My Rotary.
Bob Straw, Response Manager for American Red Cross and fellow Rotarian, started his morning on 9/11 at 8:30 a.m. at the York Fair. A child, Matthew Potter, 7, had been hurt and later died after riding on a roller coaster, and the Red Cross had first aid stations there.
At about 9 a.m., he heard the news that the first plane had hit the World Trade Center. As part of his training with the Red Cross Aviation Incident Response Team, he called in to Washington, D.C., and was put on standby to go to New York. Other local members were assigned to Arlington, VA and other locations.
In the days following, 9/11, all air travel was shut down. A team of local Red Cross members went to Shanksville for a fourteen day assignment. They'd need to hold two memorial services — the first on Sept. 17, the other on Sept. 20 — and each had to be equally special. Organizers also had to make sure they represented the different faiths of the passengers and crew members.
When these kinds of events happen, the goodness and the devotion and the dedication of these people really shine.
It was a pleasure hosting Karen Groh, President and CEO of the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce, at our meeting this morning. As guest speaker, she addressed the present state of affairs in local and regional business as well as the highly successful SCORE program which assisted the Myerstown Vitality Partnership in planning and achieving its strategic goals. She also addressed the staffing issues plaguing many businesses here and throughout the country and illustrated how the issue is a bigger issue that just getting people to work. Thanks Karen for your friendship and expertise.
(Pictured with Karen Groh is Tom Maiello, President of the Myerstown-ELCO Rotary.)
It's that time of year! Our annual Community Change Grants are now open for applications. This beloved program aims to provide support to our growing network of advocates, grassroots organizers, organizations, and agencies using innovative, engaging, and inclusive programs and projects to create tangible change at the community level.
We are looking to fund projects that:
Increase physical activity and active transportation in a specific community
Work to cross engage people and organizations newer to the efforts of walking and moving and walkability
Demonstrate a culture of antiracism and inclusive health and design
Support and cultivate connected, active and deeply engaged communities
Thanks to our Active People, Healthy Nation Partners for funding these catalytic projects.
And this year, General Motors is funding ten additional $1,500 Community Change Grant projects in designated towns and cities with GM facilities!
In honor of the Uptown York Rotary Club’s 10th anniversary, the UYRC is hosting a bus trip fundraiser benefitting its community grants program to the Flight 93 National Memorial on Saturday, October 16. We will be traveling is style via Bailey’s Rotary-branded motor coach!
If you’ve never been please consider joining us - it’s a very moving experience. See flyer attached. Click here to purchase tickets. Tickets include transportation, lunch, and snacks. We are following the CDC and PA Department of Health COVID-19 guidelines that are in place on the day of the event. Note: the event is rain or shine - tickets are not refundable but are transferable.
It was a pleasure hosting Karen Groh, President and CEO of the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce, at our meeting this morning. As guest speaker, she addressed the present state of affairs in local and regional business as well as the highly successful SCORE program which assisted the Myerstown Vitality Partnership in planning and achieving its strategic goals. She also addressed the staffing issues plaguing many businesses here and throughout the country and illustrated how the issue is a bigger issue that just getting people to work. Thanks Karen for your friendship and expertise.
