In February, when parts of Texas were hit by a fluke snowstorm, Aaron Fisher and David Lapp, CEOs of Blessings of Hope (BOH), a wholesale food bank located on Becker Road in Leola, decided to send Fisher to the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area with a tractor-trailer load of food and water through their Hands of Hope program.

Although Fisher thought he would only be gone a few days, over the next two weeks, 12 tractor-trailer loads of food boxes containing fruit, vegetables, milk, yogurt, and other food items, along with skids of water, traveled from Leola to Texas. Fisher remained in the Lone Star State to oversee distribution. "Food and water was what they needed," recalled Fisher, who added that trailers went to Houston and Austin as well. "They had no electric or water, so water was in high demand."

Outreaches like shipping 294,600 pounds of food to Texas are made possible by fundraisers like the iCare event BOH has planned for Friday, May 28, and Saturday, May 29, at 1850 Diamond Station Road, Ephrata. The outdoor event will begin at 5:30 p.m. on May 28 and at 6:30 a.m. on May 29.

The May 28 fundraiser, which will be designed to appeal to members of the Plain community, will include an a capella concert, a banquet, and guest speaker Daniel Beiler, who spent two years in Iraq working with refugees and local government officials. To become an iCare sponsor or purchase tickets, which are necessary to attend the May 28 event, email admin@blessingsofhope.com or call 717-824-1227.

Organizers described the May 29 event as a cross between a fair and a mud sale. Both 5K and 10K runs will be held beginning at 8 a.m., and a volleyball tournament will take place during the day. More information on registering for these competitions may be found at http://www.blessingsofhope.com. Four different auctions will take place during the day, and food items will be available for purchase for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with a drive-through food option. In the evening, a by-donation concert will be held.

Blessings of Hope was started in 2006, when Lapp and Fisher began using a garage in Farmersville to store and redistribute food that was being wasted and that they knew could be used to feed people in Lancaster County and beyond. Eventually, the ministry developed relationships with more than 80 food producers and began acting as a bank to collect and redistribute food to pantries, outreaches, halfway houses, and ministries, along with Hands of Hope food box distributions.