Octorara SERVING OUR COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
MAY 20, 2026
REACHING MORE THAN 3,720 HOMES
VOL XXXVI • NO 12
A Haven for the Hungry
ONLINE
Spring O
much like a typical food bank, featuring a pantry with nonperishable food items like ctorara Area School pasta, peanut butter, jelly and District (OASD) social boxed meals. In the spaces workers Jenn Davis where there is not food, there and Dawn MacKale noticed a are essential items like paper gap. Students were not getting towels, toilet paper and other the food and supplies they toiletries. needed outside of the school The other room looks more setting, and local food banks like a community clothing could not match the demand. closet, featuring garments of all So, they came up with a sizes and forms, as well as toys, solution that meets the stugames and other household dents where they are. items. All the items in both OASD recently launched rooms have been donated by “Brave Haven,” an initiative students, community members that brings a food and clothing and local businesses. bank onto school grounds to “It’s just helping to serve the make it more accessible for families that we come in contact students and their families. with,” MacKale said. “It’s easier, “Constantly, there were fambecause some families are more ilies who were asking for help,” comfortable just coming to us said Davis. “Food, clothes, or because their kids are (already) household essentials. And here with us.” until we started this, we didn’t The program was conceived really have resources to give Brave Haven brings a food, clothing and household essentials bank onto school in the fall, approved by the them. We could send them to grounds. community organizations in the within two rooms of Octorara’s some extracurricular activities and school board in Januar y and area, but we didn’t have anything to Learning Annex, which was formerly Octorara’s Career and Technical launched in the spring. Any OASD student or family identified by known as Octorara Elementary Education program. supply an immediate demand.” One of the rooms is designed OASD counselors, social workers The new program is located School. The building also houses BY LOGAN MOYER
EVENT CALENDAR townlively.com/ events
See Haven pg 6
OCC
A Brave Era of Youth Football
R128266
BY LOGAN MOYER
For years, Pequea Valley’s youth football program struggled to field teams. Octorara’s program didn’t do much better. “We had just enough to put a team together,” said Bryant Guilford, director of Braves Youth Football. “We’re talking maybe two or three subs at the maximum, and that’s for a whole football team.” Pequea Valley was faced with the threat of not having teams at certain levels in the 2025 season. That
was until Octorara stepped in with a solution: Braves Youth Football and Cheer. Both neighboring schools use the “Braves” moniker. It was the perfect fit. Pequea Valley Youth Football and Cheer and Octorara Youth Football merged into one entity, now known as Braves Youth Football and Cheer. “It just made sense,” Guilford said. “It’s a better way to bring more people together and make one big team. That’s kind of how it formed.” See Football pg 2 Braves Youth Football plays in the Red Rose Football League.
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