Published October 21. 2026 01:03PM<\/p>\n
Harvest Fest marked the debut of Bethlehem Blessing Boxes at any event, and Kathy Perlow and Bev Nehilla couldn\u2019t have been happier about it.<\/p>\n
The non-profit\u2019s blessing boxes provide free food and everyday essentials to individuals and families in need throughout their community.<\/p>\n
The group is especially looking for non-perishable food items such as canned goods and dry goods, as well as new socks of all sizes for children, women and men.<\/p>\n
The first blessing box was placed at the Bethlehem Public Library in 2018, before Perlow and Nehilla were involved. \u201cIt was started by a bunch of people to help the community and it keeps growing,\u201d Perlow said.<\/p>\n
That box is no longer there, but boxes can be found at many other sites. \u201cWe have food boxes throughout the city that we fill on at least a weekly basis. A lot are at elementary schools,\u201d Perlow said.<\/p>\n
Bethlehem Blessing Boxes, run by a group of 15 volunteers, officially became a non-profit in August, which Perlow said will make the organization more structured.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an opportunity for us to grow \u2013 it\u2019s the first time we\u2019re doing an event like this,\u201d said Perlow, who has the food pantry at her house.<\/p>\n
They credited Jenn McDermott for spearheading things for Bethlehem Blessing Boxes, which is blessed with dedicated volunteers like Perlow and Nehilla.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if you can ease a problem in a simple way let\u2019s do it,\u201d Perlow said.<\/p>\n
Nehilla, who is now retired, shares Perlow\u2019s enthusiasm for the organization. \u201cI am gung ho about helping the community. There\u2019s such a need \u2013 I saw that when I worked with the school district.\u201d<\/p>\n
The volunteers have been touched by what they\u2019ve experienced, such as moms who use the pantry donating back what their family doesn\u2019t use. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful thing,\u201d Perlow said, as is a family who built four boxes for the organization.<\/p>\n
A Bingo Night supporting Bethlehem Blessing Boxes will take place Nov. 5 at Comfort Suites, 120 W. Third St. Bingo runs from 6 to 8 p.m., and bingo cards may be purchased beginning at 5:30 p.m. The bingo for a cause will include games, prizes and community fun. Bring a non-perishable item and receive a raffle ticket. Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP to BethlehemBlessingBoxes@gmail.com. The full menu and bar will be available.<\/p>\n
Bingo Nights are a win-win situation, as Perlow explained: \u201cBusinesses donate the space and we bring in some newbusiness for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bethlehem Blessing Boxes locations can be found at the Bethlehem YMCA, Marvine ES, Lincoln ES, Freemansburg ES, Calypso ES, Nitschmann MS (not yet installed), Steel City Park (shared with Hellertown Blessing Box group), Fritz Church and Spring Garden ES (Girl Scout Troop 81024 maintains this one plus community members).<\/p>\n
Other Bethlehem Boxes the group helps fill can be found at Hope Center, Epworth United Methodist Church, East Hills Moravian Church, Neighborhood Health Centers of the Lehigh Valley (two Bethlehem sites \u2013 635 E. Broad St. inside the health center and open to the public, and Donegan Health Center, 1210 E. Fourth St. inside the health center for school children families).<\/p>\n
For more information visit .facebook.com\/groups\/936936534829299\/. You can also visit Bethlehem Blessing Boxes\u2019 Amazon Wish List https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/hz\/wishlist\/ls\/1DWTHHL04JB0K?ref_=wl_share.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY TAMI QUIGLEYKathy Perlow, left, and Bev Nehilla are happy to bring the Bethlehem Blessing Boxes to Harvest Fest for the first time. The nonprofit\u2019s blessing boxes provide free food and everyday essentials to individuals and families in need throughout the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published October 21. 2026 01:03PM Harvest Fest marked the debut of Bethlehem Blessing Boxes at any event, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-311489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}