LVCC Fall Children's Festival Brings Large Crowd

LVCC's Campus Center, which has been in operation since 1976, held its first fall festival for the south side Bethlehem community nearly 30 years ago. In the early years, parents of enrolled children and LVCC staff planned and operated the activities. Families still look forward to the event every year.

Three generations of the Martinez family enjoyed
LVCC's Fall Children's Festival.

One particular family has seen two generations of children attend LVCC's Campus Center and the family festivals.

We look forward to the festival," Iris Martinez exclaimed. "We've been talking about it for the last few weeks."

Iris attended LVCC as a student almost 30 years ago. Her three school-age children have been attending LVCC's Campus Center since they were infants.

The support of the community plays an instrumental part in the festival's success.

"Families have been awesome this year," organizer and LVCC Infant Teacher Sharon DeBoer commented. "We had so many baked goods that the families donated for our fundraiser. It was overwhelming." 

Since it's conception, the free event has grown to include not only staff and families, but also a number of organizations working in partnership with LVCC. Joining once again in the festivities this year, Cops 'n' Kids promoted reading with free books for the children. While demonstrating features on their fire truck, the Bethlehem Fire Department discussed fire safety.

LVCC staff, with the help of Lehigh University student volunteers from the Community Service Office and CARE Lab Research Team, operated a children's activity area with raffles, games and prizes. Activities featured face painting, temporary tattoos, and a balloon animal station. As a special treat, the children had the opportunity to meet Elsa from Frozen.

"This year's crowd has been the biggest ever," exclaimed Olga Calderon, organizer and LVCC toddler teacher.

LVCC hopes to continue the tradition for years to come!

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Local Businesses Lend a Helping Hand for United Way Day of Caring

September 12th, 2013 marked an important day for community partnerships across the Lehigh Valley. The United Way Day of Caring, in collaboration with the Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley, found 800 employees from area businesses to volunteer their time by completing service projects at local non-profit organizations, including Lehigh Valley Children's Centers (LVCC). LVCC welcomed a total of 14 amazing volunteers into three of our centers to tackle maintenance tasks. A big thank you to Lehigh University, Kistler-O'Brien Fire Protection, and Aesculap, Inc. for donating both time and energy to help us make our facilities a brighter place for learning!

Photo credit:  Christa Neu and Lehigh University

Lehigh University staff reminisced about childhood as they cleaned and organized toys at LVCC's Campus Center. Their efforts preserved LVCC's safe environment for children to play. 

 Kistler-O'Brien Fire Protection spruced up LVCC on Union Boulevard. While a few volunteers weeded the flower boxes outside, others painted our entrance and organized our storage closet inside.

The group from Aesculap, Inc. made huge headway painting LVCC at South Mountain's toddler/preschool gross motor area, as well as a staff bathroom. The walls are bright and cheery again!

View More Photos from United Way's Day of Caring at LVCC

A Day of Caring with Lehigh University

LVCC's Campus Center received a new storage shed thanks to the hard work of Lehigh University volunteers. Our new friends spent half a day constructing the shed. The Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley partnered LVCC with Lehigh University for the Day of Caring project.

Although the day was bitterly cold, the volunteers geared up and toiled through the weather. With a few more hours of work, the shed will soon be completed.

We greatly appreciate the hard work of our engaged volunteers and the generosity of our community partners.

Fall Fest Fun at Campus Center

Although the weather outside was frightful, the annual Fall Fest at LVCC's Campus Center drew a large crowd.  Children of all ages enjoyed having their faces painted and creating at the arts 'n crafts table. Families attempted to "guess the teacher" by matching baby pictures with LVCC's teachers. Practicing motor development skills, children played bean bags, participated in the ring toss, and fished from the "duck pond."

Many families went home with an armful of giveaways and prizes. Cops 'n Kids provided books for children and adults in every family. Lehigh University Police Department handed out whistles, pens, toy badges, and information about the police academy. Lucky winners of the basket raffle took home prizes for a movie night, a spa basket, early childhood books, games, and infant toiletries.

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United Way Volunteers Complete Projects for Day of Caring

Volunteers from KGB painted a child's block for the parade float. 

Four LVCC locations received special visitors on Thursday for the United Way's annual Day of Caring. Day of Caring is a day for volunteers from area businesses to connect with local non-profits and witness first-hand how their contributions provide service to those in need. While at LVCC, the volunteers toured the centers, then completed various maintenance projects for six hours.

LVCC on Union Boulevard's gymnasium (gross motor area) looks brand new thanks to our new friends at Aetna. They spent the day painting the gym. Representatives from Thermo Fisher Scientific painted and organized a room at LVCC on Walnut Street for LVCC staff to have their own lounge. At LVCC's Fowler Center on Main Street, Lehigh University volunteers planted bulbs and cleaned up the center's playground.

Employees from Aetna and KGB painted colorful flowers and butterflies, along with other creative art projects. Their efforts helped to build a parade float at LVCC's South Mountain. LVCC is presenting the float in Allentown's 250th anniversary "Points of Pride" parade tomorrow, September 29th.

LVCC would like to thank the United Way volunteers and their employers for making a positive contribution to our organization. All the volunteers did a fantastic job!

This event was coordinated through the Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley.