June 2026

Ministerium Social Outreach and Planning Meeting 
June 4, 2026 
Doug Lamb Conference Room, CPOW 

Welcome  

Introductions & Prayer 

Community Updates 

Introductions & Updates:  

  • Alex Mahala, Victory Church (meet in Mt. Joy Messick’s): They purchased the old Emanuel Baptist church building. Have an abundance of furniture and materials, so if interested, reach out to them. 

  • Dan Anderson, Hope Within: Church without Walls, was a success, and we served the borough and CPOW with various jobs. Lots of food trucks, and they were happy with the turnout. Biggest turnout of community churches yet. 

  • Paul Swanger, Elizabethtown Mennonite: Lunches every Thursday. Free Lunch in the Park June 25-July 30, 12:15 pm to 1 pm at Pavilion 5 in the park (by the Mennonite church). 

  • Don Lamb, Lifegate: Almost completed sanctuary remodel completed. 

  • Heather Elicker, UCEA, Community Place Campus Manager & Etown Ministerium: Lots going on. In need of volunteers, especially within the maintenance and safety side of the campus. Community Cupboard May Stats- Food Farmacy: 3 Clients served. They could see more, but Penn Medicine is who refers their clients. Hope Within thinks this would be a great program to refer people to. They will contact Penn Medicine as they already work off their Epic system. Doctors refer them to their nutritionists, who help teach them how to cook healthy meals and which ingredients to use. Then Penn Medicine pays UCEA for the food given away and also a yearly stipend for offering the location. Military Share: 34 Clients served. Each month, veterans can pick up a box of food at the cupboard (2nd Thursday of the month). Veterans don’t need to be at a certain income level, but they do have to be in good standing within the military. Contact Soldier and Family Readiness Specialist Monica Koontz at 717.821.4684 or Monica.L.Koontz.civ@army.mil to pre-register. Participants MUST pre-register to be eligible. June 5th is the cutoff to sign up for June’s box. Community Cupboard: 397 Clients served, 139 Families served, 210 Volunteer Hours, and 11,188 pounds of food (biggest donation from the USPS Stamp Out Hunger). Community Closet: 44 Families served, 81 Adults served, 37 Children served, 90 Volunteer Hours. Cupboard’s bathrooms are being remodeled this summer. 

  • Galen Russell, Christ Church United Church of Christ: Has an opening for Assoc. Pastor, but is really close to filling the position. Treads to Threads is in July. 1st & 3rd Wednesday afternoons are the Elizabethtown Farmer’s Market. Wittle Farms is growing food for Lancaster County food banks. Has animals deal with garden waste. Chickens for eggs...located on Cassell Farms, out past St. Pete’s on Mill Road. 

  • Laurie Richert and Diane Wolf, Hope Within: Have the Trove Thrift Shop open this weekend. It helps fund the organization. They have Taste of the Nations this fall. 

  • Tina Gruber- Word of Life Chapel 

  • Gail Viscome, EACTC: Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act Grant writing process and all other programs in the schools are on summer break. 

  • John Dizon, Safe Families for Children with Bethany Christian Services- Refugee Settlement Services has closed and left a vacancy for funding within counties. Children and Youth operations in York, Adams, Lancaster, and Dauphin counties has hired Safe Families in the past to be a stepping stone between keeping their children home & CYS. They have most likely lost partnerships with York County and Lancaster County. They have already parted with Adams County, and Dauphin County is flourishing. Pray for wisdom for John and Steve as they navigate possibly restructuring, new positions or even leaving the org all together. The need for assisting families to avoid foster care is a great big need. 

  • Doug Lamb, UCEA, Ministerium, and LifeGate: will let pastors know if they will be meeting over the summer with the Police Chief. There is prayer this month and it’s 6/10. 

Group Discussion: How can we serve the community that doesn’t have transportation?  

  • Could UCEA try a transportation program again? 

  • Meet with Middletown Interfaith Council Care a Van program. How do they make it work? 

  • Hope Within definitely has a need as well as ECHOS. 

  • Discussed why do we think it’s a struggle to find volunteers? Possibly insurance and akwardness around handicaps in riders. 

Prayer & Close- Doug Lamb 

Next Meeting: September 3, 2026 at 9 am. 

 

The ELIZABETHTOWN BLOCK PARTY is happening and it will be September 19th at the Elizabethtown Fairgrounds, 1:30 to 4. This is an event we have done since 2010. It’s an event to celebrate the community and showcase all the amazing non-profits we have in our area. Email Heather if you would like to help. We have decided to give what we got (instead of not doing this year) so we are a tad behind and need a ton of help and ideas. 

Heather Elicker