When Teen Central holds its annual banquet, people will get to see firsthand how the organization is impacting the community, said executive director Janelle Heying. The banquet will be held on Tuesday, April 26, at Manheim Brethren in Christ Church, 54 N. Penryn Road. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and the event will run until 8:30 p.m.

Tickets are free for the event, which will feature a catered meal by Country Home Catering, along with donated desserts and an ice cream bar. A silent auction will also be held, offering a variety of items. "We have a lot of local things that have been donated," Heying stated. "We have baskets, including a chocolate lovers' basket from a local church. We have homemade cornhole boards that our students at Teen Central have been helping to decorate. We have Sight & Sound (Theatre) tickets. Horst Arts here in Manheim donated a craft basket. ... It's a nice variety of baskets and tickets to events and activities."

After dinner, the banquet will feature an update on the Teen Central ministry. The guest speaker for the evening will be Bill Johnson, owner of Iron Nature. "He takes scrap metal and things that have been discarded and turns them into these beautiful creations," Heying said of the Annville-based artist. "He creates metalwork for God's glory." Johnson's mission, she noted, is to teach others about Jesus through art. "He repurposes things that others have seen as trash and transforms them into a vessel for sharing God's love," she explained. "We are very excited that he's going to be speaking at our banquet and sharing his testimony. What he does with his artwork very closely mirrors our mission at Teen Central of how God works and transforms to create beautiful things in all of us."

The banquet is Teen Central's biggest fundraiser of the year, and while it's been held in the fall in the past, this is the first year it's happening in the spring. The organization chose to move the banquet to the spring to separate it from its other big fundraiser, participation in the Extraordinary Give each November.

"All of the money we raise goes directly back into our ministry," Heying noted. "We are averaging 50 students at our programs, and we provide a full meal for them every day we are open. The proceeds go into maintaining our space, providing food, and we also offer a lot of special events. Everything we do at Teen Central is free of charge to our students. They never have to pay for anything."

Although the banquet is a fundraising opportunity, Heying said it's about much more than that. "It's not just about bringing in money," she said. "It's about bringing people together and sharing all that God is doing in our community."

For more information or to reserve tickets, email info@teencentralmanheim.org, call 717-664-2990 or visit https://teencentralmanheim.org.