Hempfield FEBRUARY 25, 2026
SERVING OUR COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
REACHING MORE THAN 10,110 HOMES
VOL XLI • NO 46
Clients Writing Toward Recovery, Will Share Testimonials Healing and Hope at Advoz BY CAT SHANNON
ONLINE E WINTER EVENT CALENDAR
very week, Scott Feifer gets people to share their innermost thoughts. He’s not a clergyman or a therapist. He’s a writer, and he believes in the power of the pen. Feifer, who taught language arts for almost 30 years at Hempfield School District, has been leading writing circles since his days as a teacher. He left his public school position in 2020 and has since focused on the transformative power of writing. Feifer leads writing circles at Manos House, a residential treatment program for young men in Columbia; Blueprints for Addiction Recovery; Domestic Violence Services; and the Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center, among other locations throughout Lancaster and neighboring counties.
townlively.com/ events
Scott Feifer
“We run from our stories and the trauma and the hard things we’ve experienced,” he said. “But when we write it down, we realize that ultimately, there’s no running from our past.”
Ironically, the man who gets people to bare their souls on paper wasn’t always so open. In 1998, he signed up for a summer writing workshop at Millersville University. As part of the class, students shared their writing with their peers. “I didn’t want to reveal something so private,” Feifer recalled. “I decided I would go to the first class, but if I was uncomfortable or I didn’t like it, I would leave during the break.” Not only did he stay for the class, but he also found a new outlet for his emotions. “Something broke open for me in a way that I hadn’t expected,” he said of his writing. “I wanted my students to taste what I had experienced that summer.” He began offering writing circles at Hempfield, focusing on ideals expressed in Natalie Goldberg’s “Writing Down the Bones.” See Writing Circles pg 4
HEM
Program Participants Grow From Connections, Kindness
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BY JEFF FALK
Aaron’s Acres isn’t intentionally and deliberately expanding. But by responding to the needs of the community, Aaron’s Acres is growing organically. One of its newer programs, Kindness Konnections, is taking a different approach to giving back to the same community that
Aaron’s Acres is already serving. “I like the phrase ‘natural evolution,’” said Madison Heider, the program coordinator at Aaron’s Acres. “ We’ve had discussions about how this program can continue to grow. There’s a need for it in the community. I think it’s a natural progression of Aaron’s Acres mission to support participants in Taylor Warner (left) and Ben Morganstein work on a mass mailing our community.” project as part of Aaron’s Acres’
See Aaron’s Acres pg 5 Kindness Konnections program.
Auction
BY GEORGE DEIBEL
People who attend the annual Advoz fundraising dinner and auction will hear firsthand accounts of the people the organization has assisted while helping to ensure the work will continue. The event will be held Thursday, March 26, at the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Lancaster, 2400 Willow Street Pike, Lancaster. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m.; dinner will start at 6 p.m. and will feature a sitdown, plated meal. Go to www.aroundthetable.org to register. The deadline is Saturday, March 7. Items up for bid will include a weeklong stay at a cottage in Ecuador; a weekend at an Airbnb near Elizabethtown; works by local artists and themed baskets such as a reader’s basket donated by Advoz’s Restorative Justice Book Club, a Family Movie Night basket, and a Bird Lovers basket including two handmade birdhouses. “We are a local organization, 501(c)(3) nonprofit, serving primarily L ancaster County with services in conflict resolution, mediation services, restorative justice services, and training,” executive director Krista Rittenhouse said. “One of the ways we describe it is helping people navigate through critical moments in their lives.” She went on to list the variety of services Advoz provides. “ We suppor t folks through mediation, through divorce and See Advoz pg 3
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