Channeling the spirit of charity and giving into the new year, local Lions Clubs had a collection drive at Friedens United Church of Christ, 7277 Route 873, Slatington.

The Jan. 11 event was designed to benefit the Lehigh Valley Health Network Street Medicine program and the local homeless population.

The five clubs of District 14K, Region One, Zone C - Slatington, Upper Lehigh, Slatedale-Emerald, Lehigh Township and Lehigh Township Lioness Lions Clubs - collectively donated supplies including bedding, warm clothing, tents, sleeping bags and flashlights, among other essential products.

Zone C Chairman and President of the Slatedale-Emerald Area Lions Club John Weremedic and Immediate Past District 14K Governor Karlene Laub received and organized the donations at the church.

Members of the Bath Lions Club also stopped by the church to drop off additional goods in support of District 14K and Zone C’s efforts.

“This is a great start,” Laub said, as she unboxed tents and packs of socks. “We got some very, very good stuff here from the clubs. It’ll do a lot of good out there.”

In addition to the club contributions, Marsha Johnston, past district governor and Leo adviser for Northwestern Lehigh High School and District 14K, brought a donation of more than 100 pocket-size hygiene kits.

The kits, made of old glass cases filled with hygiene products including bandages, floss, toothpaste, brushes and wet wipes, were assembled by the Asbury United Methodist Church’s Sunday School classes in South Whitehall and Northwestern’s Leo Club.

“When you’re homeless, you can just slide it into a pocket and you’ll always have the supplies with you,” Johnston said.

Johnston picked up the idea for portable hygiene sets at a Lions convention in Oregon four years ago and has been making and donating them ever since.

She noted the kits not only provide for personal self-care but also offer a measure of dignity and mental support for individuals facing homelessness, which Johnston said are just as important as looking after one’s physical health.

Laub and Weremedic said this joint collection event was the first time all Zone C clubs had conducted a service project together.

Weremedic said that on previous occasions, the clubs worked individually on separate projects.

When his term as chairman started in July 2019, at the start of the new Lions year, Weremedic decided this would be a time to change their approach.

“The zone needed some togetherness,” Weremedic said. “I wanted more of the people to come together as a zone group and be proud of what we did together, not just as individual clubs.”

Weremedic said he had got the idea for a supply drive when representatives of the Street Medicine program attended a zone meeting and told Lions Club leaders of their impact aiding the local homeless.

“The idea is to let people know what we are doing here to help the homeless, and to let people know how bad this issue is,” Weremedic said.

The Street Medicine program was started around six years ago by LVHN Physician Assistant Brett Feldman to provide follow-up services to homeless patients and see them on the streets.

Seth Campbell, physician assistant with the Street Medicine program and an Emmaus Lions Club member, told The Press the program provides primary and urgent care at soup kitchen and shelter clinics in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, as well as through street teams, carrying backpacks full of supplies and medicine to see patients in the community.

Campbell said homelessness in the region is growing. He noted that a 2015 study conducted by LVHN emergency departments, which only logged homeless individuals over age 18 and speaking English, counted more than 9,000 people passing through emergency departments alone.

Extrapolating the numbers, Campbell said, paints a picture of a much larger homeless population needing assistance.

“We’re certainly talking over 10,000 folks who are homeless within the Lehigh Valley, and we’re constantly meeting new patients in shelters and on the streets who were otherwise invisible to this system,” Campbell said.

“It’s unfortunate to say but it’s a growing issue, and I don’t know that it will slow down anytime soon.”

Campbell said the program has been intertwined with organizations such as the Lions Clubs since its foundation.

He noted that Donald Kaufman, District 14K governor, was instrumental in raising awareness for the Street Medicine team.

“He has really spread the work about what we do in street medicine within the Lions Clubs in the Lehigh Valley,” Campbell said. “He sent out a number of emails and message to folks about us and lending support, he’s really been a good supporter of the program.”

Campbell thanked the Lions Clubs for their collection, saying the supplies would go a long way toward aiding the program’s mission by not only providing critical resources, but also building connections between the team and patients.

“Donations that were collected, those outreach items that are so graciously donated to us by community partners like the Lions Clubs, they give us a conversation starter,” Campbell said,

“Somebody cold could use a pair of socks, or gloves or a handwarmer; we can have those directly in our backpacks to get to them and continue that conversation while we provide care.”

Campbell noted that while the winter drives had stocked the team’s supplies for the time being, the program could always use donations of durable backpacks and insect repellent, especially for the summer season.

Laub said she admired the Street Medicine team’s dedication to providing for the homeless. “They know who’s diabetic; they know who has health problems, they take that knowledge to the street and people know that they can go to Street Medicine for help,” Laub said.

Looking at the future and building off the success of the collection drive, Laub and Weremedic have already begun discussions for new joint projects between Lions Clubs in Zone C.

“I think this was a good thing, it was a good first time,” Weremedic said.

“Hopefully we’ll do more events like this in the future; drives, dinners, collections, stuff to get people, especially the younger people, involved and into that mind of caring for the community.”