Bob Bartnett Memorial Scholarship

I am a lifelong Bethlehem Township resident and even live in the house my mom grew up in. I am a good friend, positive person and the person my friends go to for honest advice. I am also a good student (even if I don’t always love school) and am involved in Varsity lacrosse, Unified Soccer and many clubs and activities. But what really matters to me and has been a part of my entire life is giving back to the community that I am in. I have always felt a special tie to Bethlehem Township because of how involved my entire family has been in volunteering in the community and I have always helped from a young age because of them. My mom was the BTRec commissioner for over ten years, so I spent many years helping to clean the sports equipment bins and sheds, distributing uniforms each season, cleaning and stocking the snack shack and helping set up and clean up at each Community Day. Much of my youth was spent at Heritage Park-which I loved! During middle school, I also started playing lacrosse on the Junior Lions. This was in small part, due to Bob Bartnett. My mom knew Mr. Bartnett through BT Rec from when the lacrosse program was the Warriors and then the transition to Junior Lions. One day she was talking to him at the fields, and he asked where my stick was. I didn’t even realize at that time that there was a girls lacrosse program. But guess what? The next year I started in the program and have continued to play all four years at North. The support I have had from all of my coaches and teammates has helped me so much in my life. I love the workout, the competition but most of all, I love being a part of the team. Many of my teammates I have known well before North as we played on the Junior Lions together. And I wish I could thank Mr. Bartnett personally for that. His legacy as one of the founders of the program has contributed to my growth and success. At North, I stepped out of my safe, small environment at EHMS and really became involved as a way to meet others and continue to volunteer. I played field hockey, Unified Soccer and Varsity lacrosse. I am a student ambassador, member of Teen PEP and National Honor Society member. I jumped right in and have made the most of my high school years. Looking back, I am most proud of earning my Girl Scout Silver Award. I saw an issue in the community and helped the best way I could. Bethlehem Township schools gave free lunches to the families in need. When school was shut down for Covid, these were gone. My family started a food drive for those families and I later expanded this into opening an actual food bank for our township residents for 12 weeks during Covid. We supplied several bags of food each week to over 15 families over the course of the summer. In total we gathered almost two tons of food. Many of these families experienced food insecurity for the first time due to job loss and delays in unemployment and were grateful for the help. What impacted me the most about this project was how our community came together to help. It was truly inspiring to see how far a Facebook post could go, and how eager friends, family, and neighbors were to help out their local community. I also learned how gratifying it is to help others and contribute to your local community. In college and after, I will continue to volunteer and help wherever I can make a difference. Helping others will always be a big part of my life because of all the community has given to me. Community coaches shaped my life in many ways during my years playing sports. Bethlehem Township parents organized Community Days, Back to School picnics and many of the clubs and activities of my youth. The high school coaches and teachers have continued to shape my life. I know I am lucky to have grown up in this giving community and am thankful I have had so many people behind me, rooting for my success this whole time, and willing to give so much to help me. This is the legacy of our community and one that I will continue to carry on by being involved