OCC_052720

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Octorara /townlively

IN THIS ISSUE: AAUW SUPPORTS DECADE TO DOORWAYS page 2

MAY 27, 2020

SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954

VOL XXX • NO 17

More Than Just Taking Out The Trash By Dayna M. Reidenouer

It is purely coincidental that the name of Joe Yurick’s business - JDog Junk Removal & Hauling - begins with his first initial. “It was started by Jerry Flanagan. His nickname in the Army was JDog,” Yurick explained. Yurick opened his own franchise of JDog because he had served in the military and he wanted to help other veterans. “There are about 250 franchises,” Yurick said. “(At an information meeting), I immediately fell in love with the mission. Right now, I have three (military) generations in the truck.” Truck commander Mark Lukanski served in the Army’s infantry in Operation Desert Storm. Yurick, who titles himself a “vetrepreneur,” achieved the rank of specialist in the Army’s air defense artillery, working on the

Patriot missile system. He served in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Giovanni Rivera, the team’s junk removal specialist, is currently serving in the Army National Guard. “No matter who our clientele is, we have someone who can relate to them,” Yurick commented. While the JDog organization is focused on helping veterans with their employment needs, it hires its services to everyone. Yurick takes great pride in the emphasis on repurposing and recycling castoffs. “We do everything we can to keep things out of the landfill,” Yurick said. “Anytime that we pick up items we can repurpose (we save them). We know there are memories associated with them, (and we want to respect them).” Yurick noted that he has contacts at the Coatesville VA, and he gets in touch when something comes up that a See JDog pg 5

By Francine Fulton

Former Army Spc. Joe Yurick is the owner of JDog Junk Removal & Hauling, Southern Lancaster County, and one of the founders of Golf Yankee 6, an organization that supports military veterans who own businesses.

It Takes A Village Continues To Serve The Community OCC

By Francine Fulton

Community Food Boxes put in place by It Takes a Village offer free food and toiletries to residents in need. Community members are invited to place donations of nonperishable goods in the boxes.

Volunteer English Program Moves To Online Learning

Like other local nonprofit organizations, It Takes a Village has begun offering new services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who place nonperishable food items in the organization’s Community Food Boxes are now donating additional products, including masks and protective face coverings. “People are putting in masks, diapers and other household products more than ever before,” said Ruby George, a member of the board of directors. “We know that people are using the boxes, and we’ve seen a lot more people making an effort to fill them.” It Takes a Village currently maintains four Community Food Boxes along the Business Route 30 corridor. The Downingtown Train Station box is located on the westbound or Lancaster Avenue/Route 30 side of the station, which is accessible from the parking lot. Another box is located in Dawkins Park in Caln Township, See It Takes A Village pg 3

Even with the stay-at-home and physical distancing orders, the Volunteer English Program (VEP) in Chester County is still providing one-to-one English language classes to adult learners, while continuing to offer services and support to its students and tutors. Many student/tutor pairs are continuing to meet for one-to-one English language learning lessons via telephone, smartphone and computer video conferencing, along with worksheets sent through the mail. In addition, technical training for tutors is available virtually. See English Program pg 4

Ladies Fill Planters In Christiana By Marcella Peyre-Ferry

Christiana’s annual Ladies Day went on almost as usual on May 13, with social zdistancing in place for the outdoor event. Normally held the week before Mother’s Day, Ladies Day invites volunteers to join with borough manager Carol Pringle at the Lions Club park in Christiana to fill planters that are then hung throughout the borough until fall or winter frost. This year, the unusually cold weather delayed the event for one week, but 13 volunteers still came out for the morning. “We like to do it before Mother’s Day to have them up for Mother’s Day, but with that cold snap (that) weekend we put if off (a) week,” Pringle said. See Planters pg 7

Christiana Borough manager Carol Pringle organized the annual Ladies Day on May 13, during which volunteers planted flower baskets to be hung throughout the borough.

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2318 Beaver Valley Pk.

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(2 miles West of Ephrata on Route 322)

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(1 mile North of Quarryville on Route 222)

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R059182

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