Standing with President Grigsby and receiving the Shining Lights Community Partner Award for the Helen & R.K. Laros Foundation (l to r): Executive Director Sharon Jones Zondag, Vice Chair Laura Bennett Shelton, and Trustee Elizabeth Shimer Bowers.
Helen and Russell K. (R.K.) Laros have had a profound impact across the city of Bethlehem for over a century, and their incredible influence on Moravian University and Theological Seminary dates back decades. Now through the Helen & R.K. Laros Foundation, their legacy lives on in the provision of thousands of dollars in philanthropic support for the renovation and restoration of key spaces and programs on campus, significantly improving academic, athletic, and student life at Moravian.
R.K. Laros began to establish his footprint in the city of Bethlehem in 1919 when he founded the silk manufacturing company Laros Industries. The first R.K. Laros Silk Plant was located in Miller Heights, and three years later a second was opened on East Broad Street. Laros Industries went on to set international standards in silk production and employed thousands of people over almost four decades of mill operation. During World War II and the Korean War years, the plants even shifted from producing raw silk and ladies’ undergarments to parachutes and a synthetic blood plasma product.
By 1952, R.K. and Helen established the Helen & R.K. Laros Foundation to support community non-profit organizations serving the arts, education, the environment, health, historical preservation, and public and human services. According to its website, the Foundation welcomes grant proposals for projects that will have a lasting impact on the organization and the community it serves. The Laros’ connection to Moravian runs deep. Their involvement started in the late 1920s and 1930s. All four of the couple’s daughters attended middle and high school at the Moravian Seminary and College for Women. In 1936, R.K. delivered the commencement address when his eldest daughter earned class valedictorian.
Since 1962, the Laros Foundation has given more than $600,000 in philanthropic support to Moravian, funding the expansion of Reeves Library and the renovation and restoration of buildings on South Campus, Johnston Hall, the Haupert Union Building, Collier Hall of Science, and Borhek Chapel. Their philanthropy has also financed improvements to the Steel Field Complex, the construction of both the Priscilla Payne Hurd Academic Complex and the Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Center for Health Sciences, and provided program support during the pandemic for Mo’s Cupboard. Moravian’s permanent art collection includes the painting “Pink Slip,” painted for Laros Industries following its development of the Laros innovative dimensional slip in 1938, billed as being capable of fitting all basic body types due to its unique cut and design. The painting was donated to Moravian in 1966.
Equally as important are the Foundation’s partnerships with the people of Moravian. Two former Moravian presidents, Raymond Haupert and Herman Collier, served on the Foundation’s board of trustees. In 2014 through 2015, the Foundation hosted three Moravian students as interns. Each student played a key role in researching, compiling images, and writing about the Laros family history and business success, which was compiled into a printed publication.
The length, breadth, and depth of the Helen & R.K. Laros Foundation’s commitment to and engagement with Moravian is unparalleled. The Foundation’s support has provided important spaces and meaningful experiences for students for decades and will continue to do so for future generations.