The Western Lehigh Chamber of Commerce had its annual Community Grant awards program recently during a luncheon, catered by Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar, at Underwriters Laboratory, 7036 Snowdrift Road, Upper Macungie.

The grants are awarded to two nonprofit organizations each year in memory of Sophie Gerhard and Edwin Adamczak.

This year’s recipients were the Woodlawn Fire Department, South Whitehall; and Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley.

Larry Wiersch, president of WLCC, opened the program with introductions of chamber officers and member organizations.

Joshua Clarkson, chair of the community grant committee and Wiersch presented the checks to the grant recipients.

Jessica Dokachev, director of Second Harvest Food Bank, and Briana McGonagle, development coordinator of Second Harvest Food Bank, accepted on behalf of Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley.

They will use the funds in operating support for a portion of the salary of the agency relations coordinator.

This position is vital to creating and maintaining the relationship between the pantries and SHFB in order to serve food insecure individuals and families.

Woodlawn Fire Chief James Kutz, Jr. accepted the check on behalf of The Woodlawn Fire Department.

James Kish and Jen Carl from the Woodlawn Fire Department also attended the luncheon to be recognized as grant award recipients.

They will use the funds from the grant to provide critical supplies for the department that will allow them to save lives.

More specifically, the organization will look to purchase EpiPens, a Continuous Positive Pressure Ventilation System, Glucometers, Glucometer test strips, and Glucometer lancets.

With these items, the Woodlawn Fire Department can assist in providing advanced medical care to the growing community.

Following the presentation, the group toured Underwriters Laboratories.

Underwriter’s Laboratories, a company dedicated to helping customers and stakeholders navigate market complexity.

Their company brings clarity and empowers trust to support the responsible development, production, marketing and purchase of the goods, solutions, and innovations of today and tomorrow.

They strive to connect people to safer, more secure, more sustainable products, services, experiences and environments – enabling smarter choices and better lives.