Donegal
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in’s TwoandCous Italian Restaurant 37 W. Main St.,
Mount Joy
11 717-653-83 Thru
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with
• Drive e Sinc 9 TVs 197 • Flat Screen Drink Specials • Daily Food & Website Check out our joy.com www.twocousinsmountordering online Now available New App! Download our
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Center 2nd Location
282 MAYTOWN ROAD,
R114199
Pizza
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- Planters warts - Tendon injuries - Palliative care - Hammertoes - Orthotics - Bunions - Fractures/Sprains/Strains
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DP M Dr. Diane Bray, 62 today 232-283-60 Call for an appointment
Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown, Masonic Village, 717-366-2466
9-3
1-1.5 miles east of
2 N. Market Street, PA 17022
Pike, Annville
Campbelltown (Route
322)
(717) 867-1744 eheating.com
www.northforg
Elizabethtown, Tues. - Closed Winter Hours: Mon.& Wed.-Fri. 11am-6pm - Noon-5pm Sat. - 10am-5pm, Sun.
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PA016447
Coats for Kids warms extremities and hearts
BY CAT SHANNON
I
BY JEFF FALK
Volunteers prepare Power Packs for distribution.
services - we want to fill the gaps.” To address this, FOD has worked diligently to foster relationships with other organizations in the area. By knowing who else is offering what services, members of FOD can direct individuals to the right resources when they are unable to help directly. FOD has three flagship initiatives. The first, Getting Ahead/ Staying Ahead, is a 16-week evidence-based class that provides individuals with the tools to move out of poverty. The program, which is free of charge and includes child care, transportation, meals, and a gift card, has graduated 65 individuals.
Andi points to the success of the program as a testament to its transformational approach. “Sometimes people just need someone to walk alongside them and care about them,” she shared, noting that graduates of the program have become certified facilitators, some serve on the board, some have gone back to college and a few have started their own businesses. “It’s just about planting the seed.” One notable graduate, Jarod Stine, was especially transformed by the program. As he progressed through the classes, he grew in confidence, eventually stepping out of his comfort zone to manage
and oversee a community garden. That is the second initiative of FOD, and the garden has now expanded to three sites. One garden grows bulk items, another features heirloom tomatoes and spaces for personal plots from community members, and a 3.5acre site is the program’s newest location. “L ast year, we generate d enough produce on 1.5 acres to give away over 1,000 pounds of fresh produce to the Mount Joy Food Bank, Mount Joy Senior Apartments and the Power Packs Project,” Andi commented. Nex t year, FOD hopes to expand to use all 3.5 acres of the
Picture this: A makeshift store containing aisles and aisles of brand-new kids’ coats separated by sizes, styles and colors. Families in need can enter, peruse the winter coats, select one and take it home. That’s what Coats for Kids looks like. That’s what the Salvation Army means when it says, “Doing the most good.” “My favorite par t about Coats for Kids is when the kids go into where the coats are,” said Shady Boules, who’s been Salvation Army Lancaster Corps’ operations and development manager for five years. “You see their eyes open. I tell them, ‘Go ahead; pick a coat.’ They’ll answer, ‘Do you mean I can pick a coat? Do you mean I can pick my favorite color?’ For some, it’s their first time. To see kids making a decision on what things they can wear is very rewarding.” It is at that exact moment when all the hard work that goes into the Salvation Army Lancaster’s Coats for Kids program becomes worth it. The 30th annual initiative to make sure every kid in Lancaster County has a brand-new winter coat continues. Coats for Kids, which is currently being implemented at the Salvation Army Lancaster Corps’ headquarters’ gymnasium at 131 S. Queen St., Lancaster, kicked off its efforts in October, and the program will run through the end of March or until the weather turns warmer. “Once fall arrives, some
See Change pg 2
See Coats for Kids pg 6
Heart Healthy Apples • Vegetables • Citrus • Pears • Fresh Cider • Milk • Bread & More OPEN ALL WINTER! Mon.-Sat. 8-6
400 Long Lane at Marticville Road (Rt. 741 & 324) 717-872-9311 www.cherryhillorchards.com Follow us
R114773
15 Varieties
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Showroom 10-5; Saturday Monday-Friday
n the heart of Mount Joy, a grassroots nonprofit organization, Friends of Donegal (FOD), has been transforming lives since its inception. FOD’s mission is to support individuals and families facing significant challenges in the Mount Joy, Marietta and Maytown areas. Andi Riefenstahl, a Mount Joy native and retired nurse administrator with more than 40 years of experience, wanted to give back to the community where she was born and raised. Her opportunity came in 2021 when she and her husband, Bruce, began volunteering to mentor students in the Donegal School District. They soon discovered they wanted to do more. “We realized there were a great many kids who were living challenging lives, not knowing if they would have food, clean clothes or even where they were going to lay their head at night,” Andi shared. “We didn’t want to be transactional. We wanted to be transformational.” In February of 2022, Friends of Donegal officially received its 501(c)(3) status, marking the beginning of a new chapter in its efforts to provide tangible, lasting help to those in need. The FOD team determined that while many nonprofits, churches, and community leaders were working hard to support the people in the community, there was a need to better collaborate. “We realized there were a lot of great people doing amazing things, but we weren’t doing the best job of communicating and connecting with each other,” Andi said. “We don’t want to duplicate
1865 Horseshoe
NORTH FORGE , INC. HOME HEATING Hours:
Empowering transformative change
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VOL LXV • NO 52
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SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
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R114191
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