January Team of the Month: Lehigh Valley Humanists

Congratulations to the Beyond Belief Network’s January Team of the Month: Lehigh Valley Humanists! Lehigh Valley Humanists (LVH) was chosen for this honor because of the variety and number of service activities they held in 2013, including blood drives, community cleanups, food and clothing drives, a fundraiser for the Oklahoma Tornado crisis, and most recently a free Christmas dinner. We were most impressed by the multiple events they’ve held to feed the needy in their community.

In December, LVH hosted a free Christmas dinner for homeless people and retirees in their community at an LVH member’s restaurant. They served and delivered a few hundred meals. Restaurant staff cooked ham, turkey, and all the sides for a traditional holiday meal. LVH greeted guests, served food, delivered meals to retirement communities, and cleaned up tables. This event was featured in a segment on a local news station, WFMZ-TV, and in The Morning Call, a local paper.

LVH members have also helped out the Catasauqua Food Bank. In addition to holding food drives to benefit the bank, a LVH member allows the Food Bank to use his warehouse free of charge. Although the food bank is affiliated with a church, the church forced them out of their building when the food bank couldn't pay to upgrade the building. By putting the beneficiaries of the Catasauqua Food Bank first, LVH truly embodies the spirit of compassionate humanism.

Team of the Month recognition is the latest benefit provided by Foundation Beyond Belief to our Beyond Belief Network teams. In order to be considered, your group must be a Level One Beyond Belief Network team and you must submit at least one event report during the month. Team of the Month selection is based on the number, length, variety, and documentation (e.g., submitted pictures, blog posts, videos, etc.) of events.

Teams can only be Team of the Month once per calendar year. If your local group does great service work, but isn’t a member of BBN, you can join anytime! In addition to recognition, your team can qualify for free t-shirts and grants. If your local humanist group doesn’t volunteer, but you’d like to start, we’d love to help! For teams new to secular service, we offer tons of ideas, event guides, and advice.