It's an ideal occasion for people with a healthy appetite for helping others.

The annual Taste of New Hope event will be held Thursday, Oct. 2, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Providence Church, 269 Cinder Road, New Providence.

In addition to a variety of food, there will be live and silent auctions. The proceeds will benefit New Hope Community Life Ministry.

Registration prior to the event is requested but not required. Go to http://www.newhopeministry.info or call 717-786-2802 to register.

"It is our only fundraiser," said Sandy Turek, who is the event chair and a member of New Hope's boar. "We have now sort of put all of our energy in our effort into doing this one. We know that the community gets tapped from a lot of different organizations, so that's another reason why we encourage people to come to this one, because it is our only one. Come hungry."

The cost of tickets includes soup from C.R. Lapp's Family Restaurant; barbecue and macaroni and cheese from Barnyard Catering & Concessions; acai from Oola Bowls; pizza and Caesar salad from Dolce Vita; beef and chicken tacos from Taqueira La Mexicana; Maplehofe beverages; coffee from the Daily Grind; and cookies, cupcakes, and brownies from Sarah's Custom Cakery.

Sarah's Custom Cakery will also provide four super-sized cookies for the auction. The live auction led by Eric Lefever will start at 7 p.m. The list of live and silent auction items includes pottery from Larry Albright Pottery Studio; tickets to Sight & Sound, the Fulton Theatre, Hands-on House Children's Museum, DelGrosso's Amusement Park & Laguna, and Longwood Gardens; themed baskets; passes to Pilgrim's Oak Golf Course; gift cards from Giant, Son's Italian Ice & Ice Cream, Kitchen Kettle Village, Village Greens, and Shady Maple Smorgasbord; and food from Stoltzfus Meats.

New Hope will also have a Buy It Now table. "There will be items that if people don't love doing silent options or the live auction, here will be an area that they'll just be able to buy items," said Turek. Auction items must be paid for with cash or checks.

"This event is significantly important," said New Hope executive director Sheila Derr said. "It funds our Hope Chest Fund, which supports over 70% of our clients right now in getting the help that they need or being able to take advantage of counseling services."

New Hope is located at 307 W. Chesnut St., Quarryville. "We offer faith-informed professional counseling services to the community - families, individuals, and children," said Derr. "The Hope Chest Fund funds that for over 70% of our clients."

Derr explained that New Hope works on a sliding scale based on a percent of the poverty line. "We also take into consideration families going through significant issues in their lives," she added.

"People should come to Taste of New Hope to support their community," said Turek. "Mental health (issues), especially since 2020, have just gone up exponentially. I do feel like the stigma is getting less and that people are definitely more open to getting the help that they need. This helps people that don't have insurance or don't have good insurance that they can come in these doors and know they're going to get help and they're not going to get turned away. If the community can come out and help support that, they're doing their part."

Derr stated, "It''s an opportunity to love one's neighbors. We think about the start of New Hope. It started back in the 1990s with a vision of churches in the Solanco area to invest in its local community and the professional counseling services. Faith-informed services were needed here, so there was recognition that neighbors needed help, and that this was a way that churches could invest in their local community. It's really about continuing to carry that legacy forward and saying, 'Hey, our neighbors matter, and our community matters, and we want to see our community continuing to grow and to be healthy.' This is an opportunity to invest in it in that way."