This year's Strasburg Day will be unlike any other. Several churches and nonprofit organizations have been working together to plan a busy weekend.
On Saturday, Oct. 16, the seventh annual CommUNITY 5K will take place at Strasburg Jaycee Park, 218B Miller St., Strasburg. Registration and packet pickup will be open from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., and the race will begin at 9 a.m. Participants will enjoy a run through historic Strasburg neighborhoods, farmland, and the local park. The course is stroller friendly, with paved roads and a small section of mulched pathway to enter the park. Beverages will be provided after the race, and every registered participant will be entered to win a door prize. T-shirts will be available while supplies last.
The CommUNITY 5K is the main fundraiser for the Lampeter-Strasburg Homes of Hope program. Homes of Hope is a transitional housing ministry of Love INC of Lancaster County, where homeless families are supported through the collective efforts of churches in the families' school district. While families are enrolled in the program, they meet with budget coaches and mentors on a weekly basis to help them achieve the goals that are set for them. The overall goal is for each family to move out of Homes of Hope's property and find affordable, permanent housing, with increased skills to budget and remain successful.
"We have successfully had three families go through the program, and they are now living independently on their own in permanent housing," stated Karen Bender with the Lampeter-Strasburg Homes of Hope program.
This will be the second year that the CommUNITY 5K will partner with the Strasburg Ministerium to combine the race and Strasburg Day, which will also take place at Strasburg Jaycee Park on Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a free chicken barbecue meal, a cornhole tournament, children's activities, face painting, a bounce house, and performances by Piercing Word.
For the first time, on Sunday, Oct. 17, at 10 a.m., six local churches will host one worship service at the Strasburg Community Park, 151 Precision Ave., Strasburg. All are welcome to attend.
"We want this to be an opportunity to give witness to our unity in Christ," said the Rev. John Meck, president of the Strasburg Ministerium. "It's a revolutionary idea ... for churches of different practices to come together and have a worship service."
For those unable to attend the worship service, it will be livestreamed. The link will be available through http://www.strasburgmennonite.org. To register for or to volunteer to help with the race or to learn more about the CommUNITY 5K or the Lampeter-Strasburg Homes of Hope program, visit http://www.community5k.com or email info@community5k.com.
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