Lancaster County Chooses Love (formerly Lititz Chooses Love) was formed when a group of individuals decided to turn an act of hate into an act of love. A Lititz resident (one of our founders, Kate) posted on social media that her Pride flag had been vandalized multiple times. In response, our founders called for Lititz to come together and embrace love openly and unapologetically. This call inspired our first-ever Pride event. Since then, our reach has expanded beyond our small town into the rest of Lancaster County.
In late Spring 2021, Rebecca Branle, Kate Parker, and Parker Webb came together to organize our first Pride event. Our first event had 2 components: Out in Town and Stories of Pride. For the first few hours, they encouraged community members to wear their best and brightest Pride gear and show their hearts to local businesses, proving that an inclusive community is a thriving community. For this Out in Town initiative, LGBTQ+ supportive businesses displayed their support with flags and rainbow displays, so that attendees could visit their storefronts and support them! In the afternoon, community members gathered in the Warwick Middle School parking lot to hear testimonials from our LGBTQ+ family. Stories of Pride was a time for us to listen, learn, and spread love. We heard from local youth, faith leaders, LGBTQ+ leaders, and others who inspired us with their stories, their wisdom, and their love.
When Kate, Parker, and Rebecca came together to plan this event, their goal was to show every member of the Lititz Community that there’s nothing to lose by choosing love and so much to gain! There was so much energy from the community, and folks looked to Kate, Parker, and Rebecca, asking, “What’s next?” They knew they couldn’t let this momentum die, and they started developing plans to host LGBTQ+ support groups and activities, host listening sessions, and advocate for LGBTQ+ folks, especially the trans kids in our community. In fact, one of the first events LCCL supported was a rally in support of trans students in the Hempfield School District. They hosted other events, like our first Coming Out Festival, art activities, and safe space initiatives.
Over time, more community members got involved, and other founders joined our work, including Stephanie Campbell, Sam Droke-Dickinson, Misty Motz, Samantha Motz (founding Treasurer), Bree Kramer, Kris Kramer (founding Vice President), and Ava Ren. Over the first two years, these folks joined Rebecca, Kate, and Parker (the founding President and first Executive Director) to build a movement and were founding board members of the official organization. In March of 2022, we officially received our 501(c)(3) status, which opened new doors for LCCL to partner with other community orgs and pursue additional funding. At this point, we were an all-volunteer-run org, and each founder contributed in unique ways. Some helped with social media and communications, others with paperwork and financial oversight, and others focused on running programs and meeting the community’s direct needs. Everyone wore multiple hats and dedicated significant time and energy to building the foundation of LCCL.
We began partnering with St. Paul Penryn in the Fall of 2021, and we were so grateful that they opened their doors to us. The church was our home base for several years. We hosted events and meetings there, and in November 2022, we began partnering with them on their food pantry. We also began partnering with the Central PA Foodbank at this time. In our first month, we served 114 people. In October of 2025, our highest month ever, we served 3,733 individuals. The pantry grew steadily for the first two years, and the organization grew with it. We hired our first staff members in late 2023—Minnie Nguyen, Laura Sabatini, and Parker Webb. This trio of part-time staff members was powerful and resilient, helping grow our organization, serve more people, and raise awareness of the difficulties LGBTQ+ folks in our community face.
In late 2024, we realized we were outgrowing the space at St. Paul, and we needed to find a new home for LCCL. We moved to our current home on East Main Street in downtown Lititz in January 2025, and we were so excited to have a home in the place where our movement started with Out in Town in 2021.
In January 2025, we also changed our name from Lititz Chooses Love to Lancaster County Chooses Love. This name change was both a reflection of the work we were already doing throughout the county and our commitment to broaden our services and meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community across all of Lancaster County. We were proud to continue to call Lititz home because we wouldn’t be here without the Lititz community! Because of their support—both in volunteer hours, money, and more—we are now able to provide services to even more people than our co-founders ever could have imagined!
Over time, board members, staff, and volunteers came and went as their lives changed. They moved. They experienced health challenges. They needed to devote more time to their family. And more. So many individuals have played a part in making LCCL what it is today. So many of you have joined us in choosing love and making things better for the LGBTQ+ community. You’ve helped unload food at the pantry. You’ve shown up to rallies. You’ve donated money. You’ve been a Peacekeeper at Pride. You partnered with us. You helped us build a community of care and love.
And we are so grateful to our founders, who set this movement in motion by asking us to choose love each day.
Thank you, Kate, Parker, and Rebecca, for bringing our community together at that first event in the middle school parking lot. Thank you, Ava, Bree, Kris, Misty, Samantha, Sam, and Stephanie, for joining them for the next steps, laying the foundation for what LCCL is today.
You have left an indelible mark on our community and have changed Lancaster County forever. Thank you for choosing love in the face of hate.
In honor of our founders, we have created the LCCL Founders’ Scholarship. Each year, this scholarship will honor an LGBTQ+ person ages 16-24 who embodies LCCL’s values and uplifts the community, just like our founders did.
