Auxiliary of Lehigh Valley Hospital–Muhlenberg

With the Bethlehem area’s population booming in the late 1950s, a group of Lutheran clergy purchased a 102-acre alfalfa field and set out to build a new hospital for the community. Standing alongside them to raise much-needed funds was a group of dedicated women who became The Auxiliary of the Muhlenberg Hospital Center.

Over the years, the group supported the hospital by operating its gift shop and conducting a variety of fund-raising events and activities. When the hospital joined Lehigh Valley Health Network in 1997, The Auxiliary of Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg was born. The name was different, by members carried on their same tradition of support through hospital's Camille Gift Shop, annual flower and bake sales, holiday and lottery ticket raffles and other activities.

When the hospital expanded several years ago, the Auxiliary played a key role by funding a new lobby. The support began with a $200,000 gift in 2003, followed by $50,000 pledges each year for the next six years for a total gift of $500,000. More recently, the group has supported children through a diabetes initiative, the Miles of Smiles mobile dental van, by naming a treatment room in the Children’s ER at Children’s Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital, and by naming the Family Waiting Room in the new Mother Baby Unit at the Family Health Pavilion. 

In addition to raising funds, The Auxiliary of Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg makes lives better through initiatives such as knitting hats and shawls for chemotherapy patients, making quilts for children and “Huggy Bears” for surgery patients, collecting holiday toys for children and purchasing red, heart-shaped pillows for heart surgery patients.

Annual membership: $10

Lifetime membership: $100

Interested in joining The Auxiliary of Lehigh Valley Hospital–Muhlenberg? Call 888-402-LVHN or pick up a brochure in the Camille Gift Shop.