There are several ways members of the community can assist Manor Church with its annual auction to benefit a youth group mission trip.

The event will be held Saturday, March 14, at 9 a.m. in the church gymnasium, 530 Central Manor Road, Lancaster.

Guests will have the opportunity to bid in a live auction, which will feature items and gift certificates donated by local businesses, as well as baked goods and homemade items supplied by members of the congregation.

Manor Church is still accepting donations for the auction, noted Beau Walmer, the youth ministry director. "We are looking for a variety of items like gift certificates, baked goods, home decor, and more," he said. Individuals and organizations that would like to donate can email Walmer at beauw@manorchurch.org.

Donations can be dropped off at the church on Sunday, March 8. Contact Walmer to arrange for other days to drop off items.

In addition to the auction, breakfast and lunch foods will be for sale.

Proceeds from the auction and food sales will go toward the Manor Church youth group's annual mission trip. The youth group is composed of students in seventh through 12th grades.

"Aside from being a part of this fundraiser to support local middle and high school students in this way, I think the auction can be a place where people can come and connect with other people in the community," said Walmer. "There will be plenty of good things for them to buy, a lot of fun things. We invite people to come and bid generously."

The youth group and adult leaders will travel to Asheville, N.C., from Sunday, June 28, to Friday, July 3.

"At the end of every mission trip for these last few years, myself and the adult leaders that participate in it usually try to find an opportunity to meet sometime in the weeks following the trip, just as a chance for us to debrief, reflect, and evaluate the trip and how things went," Walmer said. "One of the things that we talked about was what is next? One of the ideas was doing something related to building and restoring homes."

Walmer said the main purpose of the Asheville excursion is to help the area in its continuing relief efforts following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. "There could be other initiatives, such as partnering with local ministries and churches that may or may not be related to the disaster relief," he added.

"We sensed that that would be a different experience from what we've done in terms of trips," said Walmer. "Every trip we go on is different. We've had all great experiences, but we've also done them with different ministry partners who have different ways of how they go about leading their trips in different settings and cultures."

The group has previously ventured to Kentucky, Maryland, and Texas. Last year, a total of 30 representatives of Manor Church went to Brooklyn.

"They are very different experiences for a group in good ways," said Walmer. "We felt like this would be a unique, different experience, ultimately sensing where the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding and making that decision."

Walmer stated that he hopes the students "gain a greater understanding of what it means to be a servant of Jesus, a servant of Christ, now as students, but also as they go on and become adults and continue to live out their faith."