Morgantown/Honey Brook FEBRUARY 18, 2026
SERVING OUR COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
REACHING MORE THAN 7,480 HOMES
VOL XXXIV • NO 3
County Local Teen Answers the Call Berks Students to Full-Time Mission Work Invited to Enter Contest
BY FRANCINE FULTON
Now W Open! Visit our new branch at 440 Pequea Ave., Honey Brook We Invest in What We Know Best AGRICULTURE RELATIONSHIP BANKING SMALL BUSINESS
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See Mission Work pg 3 African currency and clothing. Photo by Francine Fulton
Treasures Are Easy to Find at Re-Uzit Shop of New Holland BY JEFF FALK
bihbank.com 717-929-0630
We are called to be good stewards of the Earth, to cherish the gifts we have been given and to repurpose what we don’t want or need. At the Re-Uzit Shop of New Holland, those principles are brought to life and put into practice, all for the good of others and ourselves.
“ We have people who are buying furniture pieces and refinishing them or repurposing them,” said Sherry Duda, who’s been a co-general manager of the Re-Uzit Shop of New Holland for six years. “We feel we save a lot of clothing from going to the landfill. If we can’t sell it, we’ll send it to resource centers. We try to recycle as much as we
Staff members Esther (left) and Kathy at
See Re-Uzit Shop pg 5 the Re-Uzit Shop of New Holland
BY FRANCINE FULTON
Berks County students are invited to express their creativity by participating in the Youth Voices of Independence Contest, which is open to students in grades six to 12. As part of the first-time event, which is designed to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence 250 years ago, youths may submit written submissions, artwork or a short video that answers the question, “What Does the Declaration of Independence Mean to You?” The contest is being presented by the America250PA Berks Committee and administered by Berks County Public Libraries. “There is a committee, America250PA Berks, and they are organizing (250th anniversary) activities and they’re in charge of the contest. Berks County Public Libraries became a partner when they were looking for ways to distribute information and collect (entries),” explained Christie Brown, deputy administrator/ outreach services coordinator for Berks County Public Libraries. “Initially, they thought to make it an essay contest but decided to open it up and make it more diverse.” There will be two divisions in the contest. Division 1 is for students in grades six to eight, while Division 2 is open to students in grades nine to 12. All entries must be submitted online. Written submissions may include an essay, a poem or a short story. For the artwork category, students are to take high-resolution photographs of whatever art project they have created. See Contest pg 2
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hat started out as participating in mission trips with the youth group at Abundant Life Church in Birdsboro has evolved into a full-time ministry career for Tabitha Donahue, who is now serving with Overland Missions. Donahue, 18, who was homeschooled and attended Twin Valley High School part time, took part in three mission trips with the youth group. The first trip was to Romania in 2023. “While we were there, we went to a local orphanage and got to know the kids there, and we also had a vacation Bible school (VBS) program in the Gypsy villages,” she noted. “When I got back from Romania, it was amazing and it felt so right. It was the best time getting to share the Gospel with those kids.” Future trips took her to Costa Donahue displays some of the items she collected from Zambia, Rica and then Hawaii. “A year (after Tabitha Africa, during her missionary training, including a handwoven basket,