Community Benefit Collective

Bench Mark Program practices strength-based mentoring with youth whose lives are full of persistent challenges. Our focus for every student is a voracious work ethic, versatility, and authenticity. We invest in leadership development with our students because we believe that their success and the success of our community are tightly linked. During the Covid-19 crisis we have reimagined our mentoring strategy and moved to virtual contact and care package drop-offs for our students. We are eager to begin in-person services again at our gym facility, and are seeking support to make sure that we have the supplies we need to ensure a safe reunion between our students and our mentors.

Make-A-Wish® Philadelphia, Delaware & Susquehanna Valley creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. We seek to bring every eligible child's wish to life because a wish is an integral part of a child's treatment journey. Research shows children who have wishes granted can build the physical and emotional strength they need to fight their illness. Since 1986, we have fulfilled nearly 7,000 transformational wishes for local children. Our chapter faces a record number of wishes waiting as a result of COVID-19. As more than 80% of wishes involve travel or large gatherings, 65 local wishes have been postponed. We are working hard in preparation of granting the 450+ wishes in our pipeline at an unprecedented pace when it is safe to do so. How many wishes we grant and how quickly we grant them will come down to funding. Through your support, you are helping ensure these kids won't have to wait one unnecessary day for their wishes to come true!

The Pennsylvania Dutch Council, Boy Scouts of America services ~5,200 youth in Lancaster and Lebanon Counties offering programming to youth from kindergarten to high school, and young adults to age 21. Scouting helps develop academic skills, self-confidence, ethics, leadership skills, and citizenship skills. Scouts are encouraged to try new things and attain a deeper appreciation for service to others and ARE doing just that! They are sewing masks, organizing food drives, and showing gratitude to those on the front lines. During the COVID-19 crisis, we have adapted to enable “Scout at Home” by creating a virtual hub of programming. Scouts are exploring museums, holding weekly meetings, camping at home, participating in virtual races, enjoying the outdoors, and enjoying guest speakers they normally would not get to see in person. Funding Scouting in this environment is incredibly difficult, but there's a fundamental truth that gives hope - together with the help of our community we will continue to make a difference in the lives of our youth!

Rainbow's End Youth Services (REYS) is a faith based youth center in Mount Joy. We serve students in grades 1-12 and strive to provide Spiritual Direction, Academic Assistance and Social Support. During the closures of this COVID-19 season, our team is providing online resources, mentoring and meet ups for local students. A tangible project the community can help support is our Backpacks and School Supplies distribution for local families. This outreach has provided over 600 backpacks filled with school supplies each of the last 3 years. During this challenging season, we anticipate a growing need and are working to be able to provide these resources again to local families.

Our mission is to create recreational opportunities for residents of Southern Lancaster County by providing high value programs. Your gifts allow us to offer these opportunities locally while also helping us keep the activities fees minimal and widely available to all families. Our organization is the center of the summer community with our outdoor pool and community park. We offer swim lessons, water aerobics, a swim team, and Lifeguard courses at the pool. We also host many camps (Day, Art, Tennis, Lacrosse, & more), sports leagues, youth sports and pre-school programs, exercise, and American Red Cross Training Classes. Due to COVID-19 we were forced to cancel our programs which has caused a significant deficit. Without the help of kind donations our organization will not be able to continue after the pandemic. We provide vital programs that serve a large economically challenged population. Please help us to continue to offer programs and events for the community of Southern Lancaster County!

What if you could give joy and hope to children in crisis? The joy of music-making empowers children to rise above their present and difficult circumstances while creating pathways to success. SWAN is a support group for children affected by parental incarceration and provides free music lessons, performance opportunities, and mentoring. This summer, SWAN is offering students a 5-week Virtual Summer Music Program. Your donations will help make this program as well as our 20-2021 after-school music programs a reality.

Tennis Central is a non-profit National Junior Tennis and Learning Chapter whose mission is to: "Serve up opportunities to strengthen the Lancaster community through tennis and education." We work to change lives by providing safe activities that promote healthy behaviors and positive choices, promote confidence and responsibility that lead to accountability and success in the classroom as well as provide community service, leadership, and job opportunities that impact over 2000 Lancaster youth annually at minimal or no cost. 99% of our youth graduate from high school. Read some of our stories at: www.TennisCentral.org. During COVID 19 we are: 1. Using our Tennis Central Facebook page to provide a daily challenge. 2. Offering a Tennis Tuesday Zoom Session each week. We have featured former French Open Champion, Luke Jensen and local author Ed Moldenhauer. 3. We have seen a HUGE need from our younger youth needing help with online homework and our "Tennis Central Leadership Team" of high school youth have stepped up to help.

The Mix at Arbor Place is a faith-based youth development center located in Southeast Lancaster City. We serve students in grades 2-12 and our mission is to educate, engage, encourage, equip, and empower our local youth and families to THRIVE. While our onsite programs and activities have been canceled due to COVID-19, our team has been committed to serving the needs of our families by providing critical resources such as food and basic needs, as well as virtual programming and care to help keep them engaged and encouraged through this difficult time. We are grateful for our community and would truly appreciate your support!

Woodcrest has been busy during the months of shutdown to provide regular family friendly content on our social media pages to help keep children be engaged with positive resources. We have also opened our outdoor facilities for families to use including hiking trails, basketball court, disc golf course, and family volunteer projects. We have several new initiatives ready to go depending on the speed of recovery including being ready to offer family camps and activities, virtual camp, and possible variations to traditional summer camp. We have made changes to have our campground ready to open as soon as we are given a green light. Our greatest need will be funding to pay for summer staff because most models have us working with fewer campers but incurring more expenses due to increased sanitation, food service costs, and medical supplies. We are committed to providing a safe environment so that kids can get out and be kids in an outdoor setting.