H15 Teen Center ready to dish out delights during fundraiser

When it comes to supporting Holmes County teens, the board members from H15 Teen Center Ministries have done an excellent job of sharing their lives with teenagers while showing their support for building up the well-being and spiritual lives of the young people with whom they congregate.

An upcoming event will afford people all around the county to do the same, all under the setting of one thing Holmes County knows, and that’s good food.

H15 Teen Center Ministries will host its annual Berlin Farmstead Restaurant fundraising event Feb. 17 from 4-7 p.m. in the main dining area of the Berlin restaurant.

The board of directors and H15 volunteers will serve as hosts for the evening, possibly even with some of the teens pitching in, where they will not only host, but also serve, wait tables, clean up and invite plenty of great conversation about the life going on inside and outside the teen center in Historic Downtown Millersburg.

The evening will feature a limited menu along with the all-you-can-eat buffet, and all the tips and a portion of every meal purchased will provide additional funds that will go toward the general operations and renovations that continue to take place at the teen center.

“It’s a wonderful way to enjoy some good food while supporting H15, so round up your coworkers, friends and family and come have a great meal and support the teens of Holmes County,” H15 Director Andy Schafer said.

Schafer said it’s sure to be a winning night filled with plenty of unknowns other than the great food.

“All of our servers, hosts and table cleaners will be volunteers who are eager to support the teen center, so pretty much nobody knows what they are doing,” Schafer said. “Thankfully, we aren’t doing the cooking, so even if your server doesn’t have experience, the food will be delicious.”

Schafer and the board are eager to share the past, present and future of the ministry and the facility, where work continues to take shape on phase two in the western section of the three buildings in HDM.

Eventually, there will be a café on the first floor of that portion of the facility, but Schafer said there is still a lot of work that needs to take place before the first sundae, slice of pizza or any other variety of food is served.

The café idea got a real boost of adrenaline in 2023 when the people who were board members of New Grounds Café donated all their equipment to H15 when the time came for the café to close its doors in Walnut Creek.

“Due to a heartbreaking chain of events, they were having to close and offered to donate their equipment to us,” Schafer said. “Our dream had been to build a café as part of the ministry in phase two, but we knew it was going to be very expensive, so we were trusting that God would provide.”

While one door closed, another opened, and Schafer said it was God’s people working for the good of the kingdom to serve others that the opportunity arose.

The equipment is now stored and awaiting phase two to be completed, and it will be fundraisers like this one that will make it possible.

Schafer said progress on phase two has currently been slow and limited, but spring will bring about a renewed effort to move forward.

“We will keep faithfully moving forward on phase two,” Schafer said “I can’t wait to see things start coming together. I’m excited to be working on this renovation, and I’m hoping to get some of the teens involved as well. It will be awesome to see some of them getting to take pride in being part of the work.”

Anyone with questions may call Schafer at 330-231-7147.