BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Sandra “Sandy” Zajacek has been chosen as the new Operations Manager of the SouthSide Ambassadors Program, which works to keep Bethlehem clean, welcoming and friendly.
- Sandra “Sandy” Zajacek has been chosen as the new Operations Manager of the SouthSide Ambassadors Program
- The program works to keep Bethlehem clean, welcoming and friendly
- Since 2017, the program has removed 280,230 pounds of debris and 1,161 graffiti tags, as well as handled 137 police requests and made 16,588 hospitality assists
Before joining the SouthSide Ambassadors Program, Zajacek managed Easton’s Ambassador Program for 15 years.
“I’ve been, most of my life, interested in community development through just an idea of smiling and being friendly and saying hello,” Zajacek said, “enabling people to communicate with each other and accept each other.”
Hector Lopez previously oversaw the program.
Since 2017, the ambassadors have removed 280,230 pounds of debris and 1,161 graffiti tags. They’ve also handled 137 police requests and made 16,588 hospitality assists.
Tasks include everything from removing weeds to greeting visitors, providing directions and making recommendations. The program also has safety patrols that work directly with police in highly visible, strategic areas.
"Friendly and clean makes it feel safer."Sandra “Sandy” Zajacek, operations manager of the Southside Ambassadors Program
"People want a society and community that's friendly and clean," Zajacek said. "Friendly and clean makes it feel safer."
'It still has that energy'
A program Zajacke said she’s excited to bring with her is the recycling of cigarette butts, which she said are the most littered object in the world. As a little girl, she’d pick them up on her own, just because she found them gross.
Under her tenure in Easton, the ambassador program recycled 600 pounds of cigarette butts. It sent them to Terracycle, which turned them into pallets, garbage can liners and other substitutes for plastic filling.
Zajacek said she grew up on SouthSide Bethlehem’s Sixth Street. Her family has been in the area for several generations.
Her grandfather, Frank Zajacek, was a maintenance supervisor at Bethlehem City Hall for 18 years. Before that, he worked for Bethlehem Steel. For two decades her grandmother, Helen Demyan Zajacek, was a maid in the dormitories at Lehigh University, where two of her brothers went to school.
She described the area as diverse and walkable.
"It's really fun to see how many young people are on the SouthSide, still part of the community," she said. "This community that I was raised in, it's always changed, it always moved around.
"When Bethlehem Steel was in full swing ... it still has that energy, with the people coming down, the new construction and all the things that are happening," she said. "The Fowler Center, the college and the Arts Academy make it very exciting."
'Understands the community in which she serves'
SouthSide Ambassadors, launched with Lehigh University in 2014, is administered by Bethlehem Economic Development Corporation and is managed by Block by Block.
Lehigh University is its primary funder, although it also gets contributions from the Community Action Development Corporation of Bethlehem, Northampton County, and Sycamore Hill Farm Development.
“Sandy grew up on the Southside and understands the community in which she serves,” Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds said.
Currently, there's an Easton Ambassadors program. Allentown also has a Community Ambassador Program listed as part of Vision 2030.
Those interested in becoming a Southside Ambassador can apply here for paid positions. Currently, the team has three ambassadors and is looking for two more.
"It just seems like a really great job for those who like outside work and like to be friendly," said Zajacek.