BETHLEHEM AREA

Board members take oath of office

Magisterial Judge Nancy Matos Gonzales administered the oath of ofiice to the Bethlehem Area School District elected directors Dec. 6. The new school board includes incumbents Winston Alozie, Michael E. Facchinetto and Shannon L. Patrick and newly elected member Silagh White.

Roy appears on Valley’s ‘Business Matters’

Dr. Joseph Roy of the Bethlehem Area School District and Dr. Mark Madson, the Parkland School District superintendent, appeared recently on WFMZ Business Matters, The television show was hosted by Tony Iannelli from the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Scholarships reminder

Apply for Superintendent Roy’s full-tuition scholarships to Moravian University and East Stroudsburg University.

Foundation update

Formerly known as the Bethlehem Area Education Foundation, the Foundation for the Bethlehem Area School District began in March 1999, after a one-year feasibility study. The foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees made up of members of the community working in concert with, but independent of, the Bethlehem Area School District. To move the foundation forward, the Board of Trustees amended the bylaws to include paid employees and hired a part-time executive director in the fall of 2014. Over the years, the foundation has worked closely with school district administrators to prepare programs and opportunities for funding that will support rigor, relevance and innovation in classrooms throughout the district.

SAUCON VALLEY

Third grader delivers ‘Blessing Bags’

While most kids her age are wrapped up in the excitement of the Christmas holidays, young Evelyn Yoder is looking for ways to help the homeless in the Lehigh Valley keep warm during the winter. The 8-year-old from Saucon Valley is donating wool socks, gloves and caps to them during this season of giving.

She delivered 30 “Blessing Bags” to the Family Wash Day laundromat, at 911 Linden St., Allentown, Dec. 14. That’s during “laundry ministry,” sponsored by St. Luke’s Parish Nurses, when homeless and underprivileged people can do their laundry there for free.

“The purpose of the laundry ministry has always been to share the gospel through loving action by giving dignity of clean clothing to our street neighbors,” says Deborah Bartholomew, RN, FCN, manager of Parish Nursing/Community Outreach for St. Luke’s. “Evelyn is sharing in that dignity outreach by giving the gift of warmth to our neighbors.”

This third grader at Saucon Valley Elementary School was inspired to do this good deed while learning a song at school, called “Make a difference.” Her chorus teacher leading the class told them that even kids can change the world.

The song’s final stanzas say it all: “We can make a difference in our world today/Together we can make our world a better place/When we work together so much can be done/If all the children in the world would sing in unison/We know what’s right, and we know what to do/The future can be brighter, it’s up to me and you.”

“She told us that 8-year-olds can change the world, so I thought, ‘Why not me?’” says Evelyn, the daughter of St. Luke’s physician Nicki Yoder, DO.

She had seen homeless people outside at a local shopping complex and was worried about how they will keep warm in the winter, explained Dr. Yoder. Her daughter’s curiosity and kind heart sparked her clever plan.

To raise funds to buy the goods, she baked and sold cookies, cupcakes and breads, netting $500, said her mother. “Evelyn loves to bake, so this was a natural fit.”

She bought 30 pairs of socks, gloves and hats and stuffed them into individual “Blessing Bags,” as she calls them, along with healthy snacks.

But Evelyn isn’t stopping there. Next, she is going to deliver hats and gloves to Project Valor for homeless vets, then she’ll buy travel toiletries for the Bethlehem Emergency Shelter.

She’s not looking for anyone to sing her praises for this generous and lifechanging idea that all started with a song. And Evelyn is not likely to forget that song or moment of inspiration at school as she tries to change the world one pair of warm, woolen gloves, socks or a hat at a time.