October is recognized as Economic and Community Development Month in Rotary International. This theme emphasizes creating sustainable economic improvements through initiatives such as vocational training, professional development, and infrastructure projects.
It's also Polio Awareness Month, where we come together to acknowledge progress in the fight against polio and promote awareness of the disease.
Enjoy the newsletter!
~Karin Suttmann, Editor, Warminster
~ DISTRICT GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE ~
Each month Rotary International has a focused message. In October we are focused on Economic and Community Development. We should take some time this month and consider how our projects empower individuals, strengthen our communities, create opportunities for growth and promote sustainable livelihoods. These missions may sound abstract, but many of our projects tie into these ideals.
To turn these concepts into action we can support small businesses, mentor the youth in our communities and work with our local leaders to build a more sustainable place to live, work and play. We should be visible as Rotarians in our community and be change leaders in making opportunities for anyone to succeed that puts in the work.
Go out and create lasting impact for generations to come!
For more than four decades, Rotary has led one of the most ambitious public-health missions in history: the complete eradication of polio. District 7430 and our clubs have been a part of this story, raising funds, building awareness, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with global partners to ensure every child receives lifesaving protection. The 2026 Engagement Campaign begins in October. Information about events and how you can support this cause can be found on by clicking here.
Foundation Legacy Campaign Dinner, 11/18
Rotary District 7430 invites you to the Rotary Foundation Legacy Campaign Dinner on November 18, featuring keynote speaker Martha “Marty” Peak Helman, Rotary International Director for Zones 28 & 32. Together, we are building a $2.7 million bridge between today’s challenges and tomorrow’s hope. Join us for an evening of inspiration, fellowship, and commitment to the future of Rotary.Register here today!
The Club Action Plan 2.0 (CAP 2) Workshop
The Club Action Plan 2.0 (CAP 2) Workshop brought together Rotarians from across District 7430 for a focused, results‑driven day of planning, collaboration, and strategic development. Participants engaged in four structured breakout tracks — Engage:Membership, Impact:Signature Service, Reach:Public Image, and Adapt:Club
Culture — each designed to help clubs strengthen operations, elevate visibility, and expand community impact.
Facilitators guided attendees through practical exercises, peer discussion, and goal‑setting frameworks that support Rotary’s long‑term vision for vibrant, engaged, and
sustainable clubs. The workshop concluded with clubs identifying actionable
next steps and renewed commitments to collaboration across the district.
The event demonstrated the collective dedication of our clubs to continuous improvement and meaningful service. District 7430 extends its appreciation to all participants, presenters, and volunteers whose contributions made the CAP 2 Workshop a productive and inspiring success!
Click Here to join us on Nov. 10th for an engaging, interactive session where we’ll explore Public Image opportunities and discover new resources to help you share the feeling, experience, and impact of Rotary across our communities.
2026-27 President-Elect-Learning Session (PELS)
Congratulations and welcome all 2026-27 Presidents-Elect. District-Governor-Elect for Rotary District 7430, Jean McGill has announced the following training sessions to prepare you for your year of service. These learning sessions are called PELS (President-Elect-Learning Session). There will be three sessions:
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 (virtual via Zoom)
Tuesday, January 26, 2027 (virtual via Zoom)
February 25-27, 2027 (in person at King of Prussia)
Please register separately for each session using the links below:
Information for the February 2027 training is forthcoming.
D7430 District-Wide Book Club
Looking for a fun way to meet Rotarians from other clubs, share ideas, and enjoy some great conversation? Join our new District 7430 Book Club!
Our first selection will be The Art of Gathering. It's a perfect choice for Rotarians! The book explores how we can make our meetings, events, and gatherings more meaningful and engaging—something that applies not only to Rotary, but also to our personal and professional lives.
Book clubs have also proven to be a great way to build fellowship and membership. One of our District clubs has already had success using a book club to bring people together and create new connections, so we're excited to expand the idea throughout District 7430.
We plan to have gatherings in different areas of the District, making it easy for Rotarians to participate and meet members from neighboring clubs.
PDG Diana Donaher along with Carol Ferguson from the D7430 Disease Prevention & Treatment Committee developed and executed the Rotary District 7430 Public Health Youth Summit. The summit is a series of virtual webinars designed to raise awareness and teach about the cause.
Visit the Polio Network at www.polionetwork.org to learn more. The webinar series can be found by clicking here
Shelter Box Update
Once again, D7430 Rotarians proved their mettle as supporters of Shelter Box. Nineteen District clubs achieved Hero Status (minimum $1,000 donation), with Kutztown and Willow Grove claiming Gold Status with $5,000+ donations.
Thanks to these clubs, the District was awarded the Legion of Honor badge as the having the second highest number of Hero Clubs in the US.
Kutztown and Willow Grove were joined by the Allentown, Allentown West, Ambler, Bethlehem Morning Star, Blue Bell, Central Bucks Interact, Doylestown, Harleysville, Hatboro, Horsham, Newtown, Norristown, Slatington, Upper Perk, Warminster, Warrington, and West Reading Wyomissing clubs. Congratulations and thank you to all. ~Bill Tuszynski
Editors note: Are you a newer Rotarian and not sure what Shelter Box is? Click here to learn!
~ CLUB NEWS ~
River Towns Rotary: Elder Fraud Awareness Event
On 10/16, River Towns Rotary Club held an elder fraud prevention forum to teach individuals how to recognize, prevent and recover from today's most common scams targeting older adults. Six speakers were featured for the evening. This event provided information for older adults, caregivers, families, professionals, and anyone interested in helping to end elder fraud.
Congratulations
West Reading-Wyomissing Rotary Club received the 2025-26 Ignite Public Image Award presented by Rotary Zone 28 & 32 for completing four action items: public image audit, why join Rotary website article, social media post that highlights a celebration, and podcast or AI engagement. You club can take the challenge for 2026-27 to receive special recognition.
Quakertown: Food For Friends
Quakertown Rotary had the privilege of preparing and serving meals through the Food for Friends program at the Richland Meeting House on Wednesday, September 30, 2026.
Food for Friends serves takeout meals to those in need on the first, third, and fifth Wednesdays of each month. Local churches, businesses, and civic groups share the responsibility throughout the year. The program recently lost a longtime participant and reached out to our club. The timing could not have been better! We were searching for a service project, and this was the perfect fit.
We purchased all the food from BJ's Wholesale Club. Our menu included Italian sausage sandwiches, potato salad, applesauce, and a bag of cookies with a sticker wishing everyone a Happy Fall from Quakertown Rotary. We prepared the sausages in marinara sauce using slow cookers.
We had a group of 10 volunteers, consisting of club members and their families. We enjoyed our time together, working as a team to prepare the meals ahead of the 6 p.m. start.
The process was simple. Cars pulled up, and the only question asked was how many meals they needed. Our runners then went inside, gathered the requested number of meals, and delivered them to the cars, where they were greeted with smiles and heartfelt thanks.
We served 127 meals, including 26 that went to two Quakertown homeless outreach programs, Outreach Cares and Quakertown Community Outreach. In addition, Mason and Leigh Ann Smith delivered enough food for another seven meals to the Bush House Hotel to be shared with residents there.
It was a wonderful experience, and I look forward to doing it again in December! t
~Jessica Althouse, Quakertown Rotary Club
First Time Attending District Event: Very Impactful!
By Jen Fielding, Warminster Rotary Club
Have you ever attended a District Event? Or are you a newbie like I am? This past weekend, I attended the 2026 Club Action Plan 2.0 Workshop and boy, was it impactful. Approximately 40 attendees from different clubs across our District 7430 came together to share ideas and learn more about our clubs – what worked, what didn’t, and why.
That’s really the most important piece to any workshop – the “why,” right? Did it cost too much to implement? Did we not have enough people-power? Did we send out enough Press Releases and Advertising about the event through social media and all District channels? All of these were so important to discuss. I loved the four-pronged approach to this workshop: Engage, Impact, Reach and Adapt.
Rotary, like many civic and religious organizations is experiencing a shift in membership and activities. People claim they are “too busy” or just “not as interested” because they are doing more with family, sports, or are overwhelmed at work to support their families in this changing economic landscape. According to a Pew Research Study, the level of public participation has become so much less than it was twenty years ago. In fact, only 9 percent of Americans are engaged across areas of what we might call “civic life.”
One area Pew identifies was exactly what we discussed at the District Workshop, and that is “Intent vs Action” – in other words, HOW are we ENGAGING with current and new members? Are we just gathering supplies for school kits and food banks or are we making a lasting IMPACT. One quote from the video that was shown to attendees resonated with our group and was quoted several times – “skills over supplies” – in other words, instead of just providing school supplies or food items to food pantries, how are we as Rotarians REACHING our communities and ADAPTING to cultural differences to reduce the needs in the first place. These are the questions we bring back to our clubs this week and into 2027.
I read many years ago about Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and his Pyramid fits with our discussion about why community members might not be as engaged in civic groups. If a family is facing economic hardship or lacking neighborhood connections, they are less likely to volunteer to the Rotary Club or believe that they can make a difference. They need to survive first.
His Pyramid: Physiological Needs (air, food, water, clothing, sleep); Safety Needs (personal security, employment, health and property); Love and Belonging (desire for friendships and intimacy, family and a sense of connection); Esteem (respect, self-esteem, status, recognition, strength and freedom); Self-Actualization (desire to become the best that one can be – personal growth, potential and creative peak experiences).
We as Rotarians are being asked to begin at the beginning and use these four tenets: ENGAGE, IMPACT, REACH, ADAPT. I encourage you to watch the testimonials from this event and read as much as you can. And, join me next time – we won’t be newbies any longer!
POTATO PROJECT HARVEST 2026
Members of the Berks Rotaract Club and the Rotary Clubs of Kutztown and Easton harvested potatoes to benefit the food-insecure on October 3, 2026. Fifteen generous people gathered in a field near Kutztown to pick, sort, and bag potatoes. We joined with volunteers of IHartHarvest, Inc., a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation that sponsors a program to grow and donate fresh produce, during the fourteenth year of The Potato Project. The Rotary Club of Kutztown has worked with The Potato Project during the last 10 years.
We worked only five hours and harvested from 10 rows of potatoes, served food, and celebrated our fellowship. We filled about 8 palletized boxes with potatoes, a contribution toward the 200,000 pounds that The Potato Project donates annually to the Second Harvest Food Bank and two other food banks in a multi-county area. This area has about a 25% food insecurity among school aged children. Food pantries appreciate this fresh produce for their beneficiaries. ~PDG, Bob Hobaugh
District 7430 Rotary Clubs
People of Action
Emmaus – Utilizing their Foundation Grants, the club awarded a $2,000 District Grant to the Wildlands Conservancy. The funds were used to purchase new mowing equipment for conservation and land-management efforts. * The club completed a large-scale, essential food purchase designed to support and sustain the East Penn Feeding Program for the following four months.
Whitehall - Ironton Rail Trail Clean-up (September 12): Maintaining their ongoing stewardship of local green spaces, members gathered from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for a morning of maintenance and trail clean-up along the Ironton Rail Trail.
Bethlehem Morning Star - The 34th Celtic Classic 5K Run/Walk
The Race: Kicking off at 11:30 a.m. from the Bethlehem Area Public Library, runners—many wearing kilts—led off the Celtic Classic Tartan Parade. The race finished at Sand Island.
Impact: Overseen by race coordinators Tom Hartzell, Tom Kolepp, Jeff Kicska, Robin Metzler, and Mike Long, all proceeds from the event were funneled into Morning Star’s continuous leadership and educational programs for local students.
Rotary's Basic Education and Literacy Month.
The Nazareth Club allocated resources enhancing educational tools at local libraries and providing structured books for area elementary students.
The Fleetwood Club partnered with area school districts and local public libraries. with their "Teach Me to Read" campaign, an initiative focused on distributing structured foundational reading tools to young children in the community.
Fleetwood – is the host sponsor for Victoria, an incoming international exchange student traveling from Denmark for the 2026–2027 academic year.
West Reading-Wyomissing - is the host sponsor for Bi, an incoming international exchange student traveling from Brazil for the 2026–2027 academic year.
Allentown West - is the host sponsor for Laurenz, an incoming international exchange student traveling from Germany for the 2026–2027 academic year.
Kutztown - welcomed their incoming exchange student, Anton from Finland, for the 2026–2027 academic year.
Bethlehem and Bethlehem Morning Star - is the host sponsor for Jinnie, an incoming international exchange student traveling from Thailand for the 2026–2027 academic year.
Pinkie Promise - Pints for Polio Happy Hour: The West Reading–Wyomissing Rotary Club hosted its Pinkie Promise – Pints for Polio Happy Hour, featuring a custom polio‑themed beer can created to support Rotary’s global polio eradication campaign.
Each year, the club contributes $1,000 toward the district effort, and this event helps build community awareness and raise additional funds leading up to World Polio Day on October 24. It’s a fun, high‑impact way to bring people together while advancing Rotary’s promise to end polio everywhere.
Upper Perkiomen: In September 2026, the Rotary Club of Upper Perkiomen (Upper Perk Rotary) focused its efforts on strategic organizational changes, community day programming, and aggressive coordination for their flagship autumn fundraiser.
The biggest structural shift for the club occurred in mid-September. Following the Upper Perkiomen Valley Chamber of Commerce's move to a new location, the club shifted its standard meeting environment.
The New Venue: For the 2026 iteration, the event successfully transitioned to a new location at the College Settlement Camp.
The Turnout & Impact: Ticket sales wrapped up at the start of the month on September 1. Attendees chose between a whole lobster dinner or steak plate accompanied by a live DJ. Because this serves as Hatboro Rotary’s primary yearly fundraiser, all generated proceeds were immediately routed into sustaining essential community groups.
Local Beneficiaries: Key beneficiaries supported by the event included local food pantries like the H.A.T. Packs Program (providing weekend meals to Hatboro-Horsham students), Loaves & Fishes at Lehman Methodist Church, and the Hatboro Community Cupboard at St. John's Lutheran Church.
Horsham: Flagship Race to Zero Campaign Launch
Throughout September, Horsham Rotarians spearheaded the digital rollout, marketing, and course logistics for District 7430's primary autumn health campaign: the Polio Plus Race to Zero Family Fun Run/Walk/Bike.
The Coordination: Led by race coordinator Vira Katolik and District Foundation Chair Herb Klotz, the club spent the month organizing multi-club registration matching programs, securing timing chips, and mapping out a traffic-free route looping through Deep Meadow Park and Carpenter Park.
The Goal: The event (scheduled for October 17 at Simmons Elementary School) raises critical funding to support the global eradication of polio.
Central Bucks:Ride For The Heroes Check Preparations
After its hallmark annual fundraising initiative—the Central Bucks Ride For The Heroes motorcycle run—the club used its September business sessions to process donations and plan fund deployment. The executive committee finalized allocations and established scheduling to formally present the generated charity checks at their upcoming October 7 meeting. [1, 2]
Key Beneficiaries: This year's targeted proceeds were structurally routed into Salute2Service (providing emergency assistance and grocery distributions to Bucks County veterans) and Tails of Valor (rehabilitating and training rescue dogs to serve as companions for veterans dealing with PTSI/TBI). [1]
Doylestown:Turn the Towns Teal Campaign (All of September)
Coinciding with National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, the club served as a primary sponsor and volunteer engine for the Turn the Towns Teal awareness initiative. Doylestown Rotary financed the outreach materials—including teal ribbons, lawn signs, and symptom description cards—and deployed a team of volunteers to tie ribbons across the town center, business fronts, and local neighborhoods to raise awareness for the disease's subtle symptoms.
Newtown:Ukrainian Refugee Family Fellowship
Building on their targeted international outreach tracks, the club hosted a community picnic at Crossing Community Church for Ukrainian refugee families registered within the Council Rock School District. Led by Events Chair Paul Salvatore, the club supplied hot dogs and burgers, while matching gift cards (valued at $25 each for Target and Walmart) were processed throughout September to help families stock up on food, basic household items, and autumn school supplies.
Ambler: International Theme Disability Project
During their 9/23 weekly meeting, club member Winifred Wafwoyo brought a special guest from a Rotary Club in Cairo, Egypt. Guest speaker Dr. Yasser Elgharably presented a proposal for a joint international Rotary grant. The collaborative project aims to fund a recreational facility specifically designed for children with disabilities, which was enthusiastically supported by the Ambler membership
