Upcoming work camp planned

Back in 2007, Trent Davis, founder of Servants Inc., began offering Home Helps in York County, using home repair skills to help families in need. A little over a decade later, Servants expanded into Lancaster County and partnered with CrossNet Ministries, completing five projects in New Holland in 2021.

At the same time Servants Inc. was beginning to help New Holland families, five churches in the East Earl area - St. John's Center United Church of Christ, Bowmansville Mennonite Church, Bethany Grace Fellowship, Terre Hill Bible Fellowship Church, and Vibrant Church in Terre Hill - began working together using the name CONNECT 2021. "This was a community outreach to meet some of the needs of residents and homeowners who needed some help with their properties," reported Gene Pierce of Bethany Grace Fellowship. The group held a training and kickoff session in July 2021. "Following several months of planning, (CONNECT 2021) conducted a successful week of service work with 20 student youth and more than 20 adult volunteers," said Pierce, who noted that nine planned and three contingency projects were completed. Contributions from participating churches and local merchants made it possible for the group to perform repairs, maintenance, and cleanup work at no cost to recipients.

Group members were excited about the success of the first work outreach, but unsure how to move forward. "We changed our name to ELANCO CONNECT with plans to continue," said Pierce, but he noted the group was stymied by planning and logistics.

In the fall of 2021, Pierce said, group members first learned about a partnership between CrossNet in New Holland and Servants Inc. "(Servants Inc.) had hired a project manager to specifically meet the needs in the ELANCO community," said Pierce, who added that ELANCO CONNECT members took part in informational meetings at individual churches and began to encourage members of those congregations to volunteer. "The idea was that when we had volunteers available, projects could be planned," said Pierce.

In October 2022, five volunteers from area churches and a Servants Inc. project manager held a workday in New Holland. "Servants Inc. was able to do the things that we were not good at," said Pierce, who listed planning the job and managing the logistics of having people, tools, and materials available.

Meredith Dahl, executive director of CrossNet ministries, said that CrossNet is thankful for the help. "We are grateful to partner with ELANCO and Servants Inc. to help families in our community with home repair," she said. "Seeing families have ramps added or new flooring put in to help improve their living situation is a blessing to our community."

Moving ahead, Keith Cotton, director of outreach with Servants Inc., said that plans are underway to enhance the partnership in the ELANCO area. "We just finalized dates for a mini work camp," said Cotton, who noted that the camp will be held from Thursday, April 27, to Saturday, April 29, and that St. John's Center United Church of Christ in East Earl will serve as the host site. To learn more about the organizationvisit http://www.servants.org or call 717-378-0336.