814-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 9,1989
Set gav , project Jack Selverling (right) and
his son do. At their Ephrata office, they sell toys that participants In the Teen Chal
lenge program make.
Father And Son Plan
Christmas Dinner For 300
BY LOU ANN GOOD
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
While many folks plan holiday
dinners, few will serve as many as
Jack Seiverling will on Christmas
Day.
He’s planning a menu for 300 to
325 people. He needs 25 to 30
turkeys, 250 pounds of cookies, 30
dozen dinner rolls, plus all the
other trimmings that makes a holi
day dinner complete.
The dinner isn’t for Seiverling’s
family. It’s for Teen Challenge
Center, a drug and alcohol rehabil
itation program.
This is the eighth year that Seiv
erling is planning the Christmas
dinner for Teen Challenge. “Peo
ple hear about it and call me up and
ask how much do you need?” Seiv
erling said. “One farmer donates a
truckload of potatoes every year.
Cookies come from everywhere—
and those guys really appreciate
thqse cookies because many have
never eaten homemade cookies
before.”
Seiverling’s interest in the Cen
ter was kindled in 1982 when his
son Jeff entered the program.
Jeff had abused drugs and alco
hol for 10 years and had drifted in
. ms is the gang . jlverllng gets together to serve Christmas dinner to
Teen Challenge Center.. jst are family members who believe the best way to spend
Christmas is helping others.
and out of several drug and alcohol
programs.
Seiverling said, “We had tried
everything. Nothing worked. But
when Jeff entered Teen Challenge,
we knew this program was dif
ferent It was going to last.”
It did. According to Seiverling,
the program, which stresses giving
up drugs, smoking and alcohol
“cold turkey” and finding God, has
a documented 86 percent cure rale.
It’s strictly subsidized by dona
tions, not government programs.
Seiverling, overjoyed to see his
son turn from a life of crime and
drugs, volunteered to serve a
Christmas dinner to the Center in
1982 while his son was still part of
the program.
The Seiverlings found the
experience so rewarding that they
continue the tradition every year.
People often question Seiverling,
“How can you give up
Christmas?”
Seiverling counters, “How else
would we want to spend it?
There’s no better way to celebrate
Christmas than by helping others.
Everyone at the Center is so happy
and thankful. And in the evening
we come back and celebrate with
the famf ”
Jeff, with his wife and other
family members, accompanies his
dad on Christmas Day. Jeff said, “I
can tell the guys, I was in this prog
ram one time, too. I didn’t think
there was any hope for me, but God
turned my life around. Hearing my
story gives them hope that God can
do the same thing for them.”
The Seiverling’s Christmas pro
ject is actually a year-round effort.
At their Arthur Yeager real estate
and insurance agency in Ephrata,
they sell wooden toys made by par
ticipants at the Center. The toys
include puzzles, crayon holders,
trains, car carriers, lumber trucks
and wall plaques. One weekend
each December, the father and son
team also set up a toy display at a
mall to sell the toys and to tell
others about the program that ben
efits those trying to overcome sub
stance abuse. This year, the
wooden toy display will be set up
at Lincoln Mall, Ephrata, on
December 22 and 23.
“We’re not in this for money,”
Seiverling said. “All the proceeds
goes to the program. We want to
do our part in helping a program
that helps so many men put their
lives back together.”
See your nearest
(NEW HOLLAND
Dealer for Dependable
Equipment and
Dependable Service;
PENNSYLVANIA
Annville, PA
BHM Farm
Equipment, Inc.
RDI, Rte. 934
717-867-2211
Beavertown, PA
B&R Farm
Equipment, Inc.
RD 1, Box 217 A
717-658-7024
Belleville, P/>
Ivan J. Zook
Farm Equipment
Belleville, Pa.
717-935-2948
Canton, PA
Hess Farm Equipment
717-673-5143
Carlisle, PA
R&W Equipment Co.
35 East Willow Street
717-243-2686
Chambersburg, PA
Clugston
Implement, Inc.
R.D. 1
717-263-4103
Davldsburg, PA
George N. Gross, Inc.
R.D. 2, Dover. PA
717-292-1673
Elizabethtown, PA
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc.
Rt. 283 - Rheem’s Exit
717-367-1319
Gettysburg, PA
Yingting Implements,
Inc.
3291 Taneytown Rd.
717-359-4848
Grecncaslle, PA
Meyers
Implement’s Inc.
400 N. Antrim Way
P.O. Box 97
717-597-2176
Halifax, PA
Sweigard Bros.
R D. 3. Box 13
717-896-3414
Hamburg, PA
Shartlesville
Farm Service
R D 1. Box 1392
215-488-1025
Honey Brook, PA
Dependable Motor Co.
East Main Street
215-273-3131
215-273-3737
Honey Grove, PA
Norman D. Clark
& Son, Inc.
Honey Grove, PA
717-734-3682
Hughesvllle, PA
Farnsworth Farm
Supplies, Inc.
103 Cemetery Street
717-584-2106
Loyavllla, PA
Paul Shovers, Inc.
Loysville, PA
717-789-3117
New Holland, PA
A.B.C. Groff, Inc.
110 South Railroad
717-354-4191
Olay, PA
C.J. Wonsidler Bros.
R.D. 2
215-987-6257
Pitman, PA
Schreffler Equipment
Pitman, PA
717-648-1120
Quakartown, PA
C.J. Wonsidler Bros.
R.D. 1
215-536-1935
Rlngtown, PA
Ringtown Farm
Equipment
Ringtown, PA
717-889-3184
Tamaqua, PA
Charles S. Snyder, Inc.
R.D. 3
717-386-5945
West Grove, PA
S.G. Lewis & Son, Inc.
R.D. 2, Box 66
215-869-2214
MARYLAND
Churchvllle, MD
Walter G Coale, Inc.
2849-53
Churchville Rd.
301-838-6470
Frederick, MD
Ceresville
Ford New Holland, Inc
Rt 26 East
301-662-4197
Outside MD,
800-331-9122
Hagerstown, MD
Antietam Ford Tractor
301-791-1200
NEW JERSEY
Bridgeton, N.J.
Leslie G. Fogg, Inc
Canton & Stow Creek
Landing Rd.
609-451-2727
609-935-5145
Washington, NJ
Frank Rymon & Sons
201-689-1464
Woodstown, NJ
Owen Supply Co.
Broad Street &
East Avenue
609-769-0308