Published December 16. 2025 12:23PM<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we gather on this sacred ground \u2013 holy not because of what is being built, but because of what will grow here: love, hope, and healing,\u201d prays Dr. David Charles Smith as he asks for God\u2019s blessing during the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley\u2019s Oct. 22 groundbreaking ceremony at the nonprofit\u2019s South Whitehall office.<\/p>\n
\u201cHome is where the heart is and I can assure you that this place will be filled with more heart and more love than you can imagine,\u201d remarks PCFLV Executive Director Michelle Zenie Rounds as she celebrated the start of construction of the new addition to the organization\u2019s headquarters at 4501 Crackersport Road, South Whitehall Township. PCFLV purchased the property in 2024 and have been working to turn it into a \u201chome\u201d for those they serve. Rounds considers them \u201cour big extended family.\u201d The executive director explained the 1,088-square-foot new building connected to the organization\u2019s headquarters will provide needed program and event space.<\/p>\n
PCFLV Board President Nicole Thomas expressed gratitude to her fellow board members, PCFLV staff, MKSD Architects, Jerdon Construction and Keystone Engineering for their \u201chard work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rounds, staff, and others involved in the project donned hard hats, picked up shovels and ceremonially turned over dirt to officially mark the beginning of construction. The project is projected to wrap up by March 2026. Rounds expresses hope the new construction will be completed in time to be celebrated at the annual Hearts of Gold Gala later that month.<\/p>\n
Graze Craze and Truffle Bar catered the event.<\/p>\n
The Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley provides free programming and services to local children with cancer and their families.<\/p>\n
For more information call 484-221-9294 or visit pcflv.org.<\/p>\n
Press photos by Ed CourrierFrom left, PCFLV Board member Mike Petronio, PCFLV Executive Director Michelle Zenie Rounds, building contractor Ron Jerdon, MKSD architects Declan Torrence and Jill Hewes, South Whitehall Board of Commissioners President Diane Kelly, and PCFLV Board President Nicole Thomas get ready with the shovels.<\/p>\n
Dr. David Charles Smith, senior pastor at Jordan United Church of Christ asks for God\u2019s blessing during the PCFLV groundbreaking event.<\/p>\n
From left, PCFLV Fundraising Manager Tracy Stauffer, Operations Manager Rhonda Johnson, Executive Director Michelle Zenie Rounds, Marketing & Communications Coordinator Caley Bittner and Program & Services Manager Kristine Buss toast the start of construction as they gather around a MKSD rendering of the new addition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published December 16. 2025 12:23PM \u201cToday we gather on this sacred ground \u2013 holy not because of what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-62687","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62687","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=62687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}