The First Presbyterian Church, located at 101 S. Decatur St., Strasburg, will hold a Mission Italy Auction on Saturday, Feb. 21. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. The auction will begin at 6:15 p.m.

The auction is a fundraiser for a mission trip to Italy this summer.

Auctioneer Don Welk Sr. will put 106 items up for bid, including a signed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar basketball that's authenticated; a painting by local artist Fred Rodger; a signed baseball bat and glove from county native Travis Jankowski; a signed game jersey from former Philadelphia Flyers star Simon Gagne; a week in the Poconos; a week in Bethany Beach, Del.; four Holstein heifers; and gift certificates to local businesses.

Every student going on the mission trip is required to donate a high-end product for the auction. Church members have also made contributions. The complete list of items can be viewed by going to http://www.straspres.org.

"We have quite a few high-money items, and so we're excited for that," pastor Bob Bronkema said. "What we really are looking for the most is people who will come in and bid on them."

Pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, baked goods made by students, and chips will be sold.

Twenty youths and 11 adults from across the area will travel to Portici, Italy, from Sunday, June 28, through Wednesday, July 8.

First Presbyterian Church sends groups on two mission trips a year, one for middle-schoolers and another for high-schoolers. A trip to Italy occurs every four years.

Pastor Bronkema grew up in Rome. "I served in Italy at an orphanage, and so since 2000, we've been sending groups to Italy," he said. "This is the fourth group that we've sent from First Presbyterian Church. And (the auction) is the one and only fundraiser, so we have to make that work."

Kristin Kondratowski helps organize the auction and mission trips. "We'll be working in a public elementary school, and we'll be doing an English immersion program for the students for a week," she said.

Bronkema added, "Here in the United States, we call it vacation Bible school, but because it's in a public school in Italy, we're calling it an English immersion program."

The pastor said Portici is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. "It's very, very poor," he said. "It's right outside of Naples. It's a very, very poor region and district. ... My wife (Stacy) and I served there for four years at an orphanage. There's a lot of opportunity for our kids to be able to bring some hope but also to learn from them as well."

The visit will not be all work and no play. "They'll have vacation Bible school in the morning, and then every day after that vacation Bible school, the kids will be able to go and see a pretty significant cultural place like Pompei and Vesuvius, the Amalfi Coast," said Bronkema. "Then at the end of the trip, after the five-day vacation Bible school, we'll go to Rome."

Jackson Allison, a junior at Lampeter-Strasburg High School, will be making his fifth mission expedition. He has also twice journeyed to Florida and West Virginia.

"The products that are being sold (at the auction) are pretty neat, cool experiences," Jackson said. "(The auction) will support us going to Italy and teaching their kids more about the Gospel."

Abi May, a senior homeschool student from Schaefferstown, has made mission trips the last two years, one to Florida and one to West Virginia.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know the kids and interacting with them," said Abi. "I work with kids a lot, so I'm super excited to talk to kids that aren't from the United States and get to know their culture and just to get to know their language as well."