Serving Hands. Caring Hearts. Fostering Hope.
News & Events
Caring Hearts Luncheon – March 26, 2026
The Inn at Leola Village, Bella Giardino • 11:30 AM – 1 PM
Join us for a delicious buffet lunch and hear how we are changing lives together.
If you have any questions about making a reservation, contact Steve Nichols: Email steven@cobys.org, or call 717-685-6580 ext. 161.
The annual Dinner & Conversation is moving to midday. The COBYS Community is giving hope and opportunity to children and families when it is needed most. See how challenges are met and brighter futures are possible.
Hear more from the Albrecht family (featured in the Winter 2026 issue of the COBYS Fostering Hope newsletter), and we’ll share stories about our staff, kids and families doing everyday things in extraordinary ways.
Luncheon Schedule:
11:30 – 12:00 Welcome reception and appetizers
12:00 – 12:45 pm Buffet lunch
12:45 – 1:30 pm Foster family conversation
Buffet Options
Penne pasta w/chocolate and braised beef tomato sauce, gorgonzola, wild mushrooms, lightly dusted Wilbur’s dark chocolate
Slow roasted chicken breast/thigh with whipped potatoes and assorted vegetables (gluten free)
Orecchiette Pasta with sautéed broccoli, crushed cauliflower, garlic and chilies (vegan/vegetarian)
Cost:
$60 per person
$120 per couple
$450 per table of eight
A freewill offering will be taken.
Presenting Sponsors
Compassion Sponsor
The Wenger Foundation Praise Dinner – April 28, 2026
Lebanon Expo Center • 80 Rocherty Road, Lebanon, PA • 6:00 PM
The Wenger Foundation Annual Praise Dinner, where you will enjoy a delicious meal with friends, hear an inspirational speaker and tap your shoes to the sounds of Christian music. Having hosted this event for so many years, the foundation is so grateful for the overwhelming generosity of our community.
COBYS Baseball Bash – May 16, 2026
Penn Medicine Park
Spring means baseball, and in Lancaster that means the Stormers. COBYS will be hosting a evening ball game in the Silverbox suite. There’s the game (of course), food, pinball machines and more. Plus a chance to connect with COBYS in a relaxed, comfortable environment. Come to support the Stormers and COBYS!
Gifts That Give Hope – Was Held November 30, 2025 
Lancaster Farm & Home Center • 11 AM – 3 PM • Free Admission
The one-day celebration of alternative gift giving, Gifts That Give Hope gift fair gives ethically minded and socially conscious shoppers a central location to “put their money where their heart is” in terms of aligning their desire to live with intention throughout the year with their spending habits around the holidays. Oftentimes, individuals want to make more conscientious choices in recognizing the incredible potential they wield in galvanizing their purchasing purchase to cast a vote for the kind of world in which they want to live.
COBYS is grateful to everyone who supported us through this event and those who stopped by our booth to learn more about the services and mission of COBYS.
COBYS Supporters Reached the Goal!
Thank You for Your Support During the 2025 ExtraGive
Thanks to the 189 donors who helped us pass our goal to raise $50,000 during the Lancaster County Community Foundation 2025 ExtraGive. As one of 450 organizations, we are so grateful to all who donated to COBYS throughout the day.
Care happens because of you. Your contribution to COBYS is not just financial support, it is an act of love and faith in the potential of every individual we serve. Gifts received during the ExtraGive provide services related to physical safety as well as behavioral and emotional health of children and families in need. You help provide safe, loving homes for foster children, forever homes for those in need of adoption and the tools and counseling necessary for families to thrive. Thank you again!
Special Thanks to our Matching Gift Sponsors.
We also appreciate our generous Matching Gift sponsors, Fillmore Container, Grauer’s Paint & Decorating and National Energy Control Corporation who matched donations dollar for dollar at intervals throughout the day. Their encouragement spurred additional activity in donations during those times.
Fillmore Container
matched gifts from 6:00-9:00 am dollar for dollar up to $100 per donation for a total of $2,500.
Grauer’s Paint & Decorating matched gifts at two times. From 11:00 am – 1:00 pm gifts were matched dollar for dollar up to $100 and from 4:00 – 7:00 pm they were matched up to $150 of each donation for $5,000 total.
National Energy Control Corporation kept the matching going late in the evening. Gifts made from 7:00 – 10:00 pm were matched dollar for dollar up to $100 for a total of $2,000.
Thank you for your support of COBYS at the 2025 Bike & Hike
Over $112,000 raised!
You came, you rode, you walked, you sundaed!
With the support of business sponsors, Kickstart contributions and participants (many who enlisted people to sponsor them), over $112,000 was raised.
COBYS honored the top three fundraisers: Floy Fitzkee, Londa Brandt and Don and Carolyn Fitzkee. Many other individuals, families and groups, including Mountville Church of the Brethren, rallied support from friends and family to support our services.
Funds raised at the Bike & Hike allow COBYS to provide care the way care should be provided, with compassion, dignity and hope, to kids and families who are often experiencing trauma and at their lowest point. Together we lift them up.
No matter how you participated, your partnership during the COBYS Bike & Hike helps make a positive difference in the lives of kids, adults and families entrusted to our care. Together we are making a better community and offering hope.
Live Podcast-Community Matters
On Thursday, November 9, 2023 from 5-6:30 pm in the Lancaster Library Community Room, 151 N. Queen St., Lancaster, PA 17603, “2 Adoptive Mamas” recorded a podcast episode in front of a live audience. An expert panel participated in an interactive conversation about the importance of the whole community supporting foster care and adoption as well as resources for foster and adoptive children.
This podcast can be heard here.
Other 2.A.M. podcast episodes can be heard at: https://twoadoptivemamas.com/podcast/