How It Started
In the spring of 2021, a grassroots team —now Lancaster County Chooses Love—sprang to life in direct response to a hate-motivated act: a local resident’s Pride flag was vandalized—twice—in her own yard. In many towns, such actions might have been met with quiet resignation or isolated outrage. But in Lititz, something remarkable happened: neighbors, friends, and strangers came together and chose love.
With pandemic restrictions in place that left festival venues and marches on sidewalks and streets off-limits, organizers sidestepped limitations with creativity. Over a span of three weeks, they developed a plan and brought a modest but powerful community event to life. They couldn’t host a parade or gather in the streets—but they could gather in a parking lot. And they did. Roughly 200 people came together at Warwick Middle School to listen, show support, and share space. It wasn’t flashy, but it was meaningful. The grassroots team also declared the day a “Pride Shopping Day,” inviting LGBTQ+ residents and allies to walk downtown in rainbow gear and visit local shops that displayed rainbow flags or signs as a show of solidarity. This simple act of visibility, born from both necessity and ingenuity, laid the foundation for the warm, ongoing relationships LCCL now shares with downtown businesses.
From A Single Event A Community Benefit Organization Rises
What began as a spontaneous gathering in a school parking lot quickly grew into something larger. That first act of grassroots resistance—organizing Lititz’s first Pride event in just a few weeks—planted the seeds for an enduring movement. The neighbors and volunteers who came together that day would go on to form Lititz Chooses Love, a collective committed to LGBTQ+ inclusion, visibility, and care in a small town often overlooked in broader queer advocacy.
“We didn’t do it for attention,” said board president Hugo Schroeder. “We did it because people needed to feel safe. We needed to remind each other that we were not alone.”
Unlike many nonprofits launched with startup capital or strategic plans, Lititz Chooses Love was born from urgency and necessity. And yet, its impact was immediate. By the following year, Lititz Pride had grown into a full festival—still grassroots, still deeply personal, but now with music, vendors, performers, and a growing coalition of support.
As its programming expanded and its reach deepened, the organization evolved once again—this time into Lancaster County Chooses Love (LCCL). In just four years, it has become Lancaster County’s leading LGBTQ+ Community Benefit Organization, offering year-round programming, direct services, and a joyful annual Pride festival in the heart of Lititz Springs Park.
“Lancaster County Chooses Love grew as a community response to an act of hate—an organic function of community need and care.” —Jessica Purdy, Executive Partner, Culture & Operations
As Lititz Pride gained momentum, it stood apart from more commercialized events. It was intentionally grassroots: designed for community connection, centered on radical accessibility, and grounded in a spirit of care. Organizers prioritized LGBTQ+ vendors and performers, offered financial support to ensure inclusion, and worked closely with local businesses—many of whom had first shown their solidarity by placing rainbows in their windows during that initial Pride shopping day. Sponsorships started as low as $100. No vendor was ever turned away for lack of funds.
“Lititz Pride has made a point to create space to be in community in a way that allows for the complexity of us as humans,” said Schroeder. “Room for families, to limit sensory overload, and engage as you desire.”
This ethos of intentionality wasn’t an accident. It was—and remains—foundational. What started with a flag, a parking lot, and a call to action has grown into a model of community-powered queer advocacy—rooted in love, built by necessity, and sustained by joy.
Evolving Beyond Lititz
As demand for programming, services, and support grew across Lancaster County, so did the organization’s vision. In 2024, the group began efforts to officially transition to a new name: Lancaster County Chooses Love, reflecting the broader scope of its work and the people it serves.
“We are reaching more of our neighbors who would benefit from our services.” —Hugo Schroeder
The name change wasn’t just cosmetic. It was a public recommitment to the mission of creating affirming spaces everywhere in Lancaster County, especially in towns and school districts where LGBTQ+ individuals still face isolation, hostility, and invisibility.
| For more about the reasoning behind the name change: Read the official announcement |
One of the most distinctive features of LCCL’s growth is its adoption of a shared leadership model, where three Executive Partners lead the organization collaboratively across different domains:
- Jessica Purdy, Executive Partner for Culture & Operations
- Laura Sabatini, Executive Partner for Development & Strategic Initiatives
- Parker Webb, Executive Partner for Community Engagement & Advocacy
This Executive Partner model distributes responsibility, balances perspectives, and prevents burnout—a common threat in small nonprofits. As described in the organization’s leadership document, the model is “an intentional structure rooted in trust, accountability, and lived experience” that reflects their values as much as their strategy.
| To understand LCCL’s shared leadership model: Read the full Executive Partner model description (PDF) |
Today, LCCL supports the community in far more ways than a single event could hold. Lancaster County Chooses Love provides year-round programming that includes support groups, name change clinics, a food pantry, a gender-affirming clothing closet, and a lending library. “We are providing direct support where people live and work,” Purdy says. “We are doing it sustainably. We are accountable. And we show up.”
“The system isn’t going to save us,” Sabatini adds. “We have to save ourselves. That’s what community care looks like. The Trevor Project is great. The ACLU is great. But Chase Strangio isn’t going to show up at your school board meeting. We are.”
LCCL provides:
- Regular social and support groups for youth, adults, and parents
- A community food pantry and clothing closet
- Name change clinics and mutual aid efforts
- Workshops and education
- Advocacy in local school districts
“We’re not just about the party. Lititz Pride supports our year-round programming, which is about community care, empowerment, and showing up for each other.” —Laura Sabatini
The team remains deeply committed to a small-town presence. “Having events throughout the county is important because much of Lancaster County is still not welcoming to queer people,” said Purdy. “Showing up in public is itself an act of love, resistance, and resilience.”
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Check out the next article in this series: Why We Have Lititz Pride: 2025 is Looking a Lot Like 1969
Read the first article in the series: Why We Have Lititz Pride: Our Pride Rises from History
