Middle Octorara Presbyterian will hold its annual outdoor yard sale on Saturday, Aug. 29, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the church, 1199 Valley Road, Quarryville.

The rain date is Saturday, Sept. 5.

Vendors from the community can rent 10-foot-by-10-foot spaces and should bring their own tables. Anyone interested in procuring a slot should call Dan Henry at 717-381-9947. The deadline to reserve a space is Thursday, Aug. 27.

Last year, the yard sale featured 25 vendors occupying a total of 40 spaces. "You can get a little bit of everything," Henry said.

The event is a fundraiser for Quarryville-based Joyfully Made Fellowship, which describes itself as a "nonprofit one-of-a-kind special needs ministry and church." The 100% volunteer organization provides opportunities to those of all ages with disabilities and special needs.

Joyfully Made students have been attending Middle Octorara Bible school in recent years. "When we decided to do the yard sale, we thought Joyfully Made would be a great ministry to do a fundraiser for," said Henry.

The yard sale will also have food prepared by church members, including breakfast sandwiches, ham sandwiches, hot dogs, chips, baked goods, and beverages. Proceeds from food sales will also go to Joyfully Made Fellowship.

Joyfully Made Fellowship started a youth praise band at Wesley Church 20 years ago. "Eventually, many of the typical students went on to college, got married, or moved away," Tami Shaub said during a recent presentation. "We were left with a core group of individuals who love music but were not able to perform at a worship service anymore. Most of the students left in our group had special needs. I asked them, along with their parents, what they felt we should do as a group if we weren't a youth praise band any longer. They all said that they just liked to get together, because they didn't have to work so hard to be 'typical.' They didn't get made fun of by other students. They could just be themselves."

Since then, the group has gathered several times a month. "Our Thursday gatherings consist of having a meal together, followed by a Bible lesson or activity, and then we end our evening with music," Shaub said. "We also started a Sunday school class a number of years ago. We now take field trips; attend community events; and have respite events where parents/guardians can drop off their students for three to four hours while the students are enjoying a themed event, whether it be a pizza party, ice cream party, pajama party, movie night or some other fun activity. We also have a support group for parents and caregivers. ... As the only special needs church around, and quite possibly the only one there is, we've had people come from well over an hour away to learn more about our programs. We've offered to mentor anyone who would like to start something similar."