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Cumberland Gardens Boys and Girls Club, a resource for under-served Allentown kids, could close this year because of financial constraints

The Cumberland Gardens Boys and Girls Club in Allentown could close following cuts to the Allentown Housing Authority’s budget, leaving 50 to 60 children without a reliable afterschool and summer program to keep them occupied and out of trouble.

Emery, 13, and Dio, 12, play basketball Thursday, March 26, 2026, at the Boys and Girls Club’s teen Cumberland Gardens Clubhouse in Allentown. The club’s contract with the housing authority to use the clubhouse is expiring, and the club is trying to fundraise for transportation to allow the kids access to another clubhouse in the area. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)

AJ Rolon, unit director, gets emotional when he talks about growing up as a club kid in Allentown and now working and connecting with the teens at the club Thursday, March 26, 2026, at Boys and Girls Club’s teen Cumberland Gardens Clubhouse in Allentown. The club’s contract with the housing authority to use the clubhouse is expiring, and the club is trying to fundraise for transportation to allow the kids access to another clubhouse in the area. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)

Emery, 13, and Dio, 12, play basketball with AJ Rolon, unit director, Thursday, March 26, 2026, at the Boys and Girls Club’s teen Cumberland Gardens Clubhouse in Allentown. The club’s contract with the housing authority to use the clubhouse is expiring, and the club is trying to fundraise for transportation to allow the kids access to another clubhouse in the area. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)

Katarah Jordan, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Allentown and Kathryn Best, director of programs & operations at the Boys & Girls Club of Allentown stand inside the computer lab Thursday, March 26, 2026, at club’s teen Cumberland Gardens Clubhouse in Allentown. The club’s contract with the housing authority to use the clubhouse is expiring, and the club is trying to fundraise for transportation to allow the kids access to another clubhouse in the area. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)

Katarah Jordan, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Allentown, speaks about the possible closure of its Cumberland Gardens Clubhouse for teens on Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Allentown. The club’s contract with the housing authority to use the clubhouse is expiring, and the club is trying to fundraise for transportation to allow the kids access to another clubhouse in the area. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)

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A crocus blossoms in a Bethlehem yard, signaling the start of spring in 2014. (Donna Fisher/The Morning Call)

Lehigh Valley in for another tough allergy season, experts say

A procession carrying the bodies of Walnuttown Fire Company Chief Jeff Buck and Assistant Fire Chief Robert Shick Jr. passes the fire company as they are returned to Berks County from Lehigh County, where autopsies were performed Monday. (Bill Uhrich – Reading Eagle)

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Fran Volpe stands in Volpe's Sports Bar at Fifth and Broad streets in Emmaus on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009. (Catherine Meredith/The Morning Call)

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Liberty High senior Nick Schenkel is not the best basketball player, but led his team in a positive, encouraging way. He is The Morning Call’s Boys Basketball Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season. (Keith Groller / The Morning Call)

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Procession for Berks County firefighters killed in crash | PHOTOS

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Mary Stofanak Rzucidlo, 92, of Bethlehem shows her Easter basket filled with food Saturday, April 4, 2026, to be blessed by Rev. Giuseppe Esposito on Holy Saturday at St. Anne Catholic Church in Bethlehem. Stofanak Rzucidlo has been getting her Easter baskets blessed since she was 8 years old. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)

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