Benefit fund established

Aid families and community of Amish shooting victims MILFORD - The proprietors of Dutch Country Treasures, who sell Amish-made goods in Milford, have established the “Our Amish Neighbors Benefit Fund” to assist the families and community of the recent schoolhouse shooting victims in Nickel Mines, PA. Business partners Patricia Bylsma and Andy Hostetler, himself an Amish craftsman, created the fund in response to their customers’ question, “What can we do to help?” “Separate from the medical expenses, these families and those around them affected by this tragedy will have needs far into the future,” said Bylsma. “All the money collected through the ‘Our Amish Neighbors Benefit Fund’ will be given directly to the deacon of the Old Order Amish Church in Lancaster for him to distribute as he judges best to the families and their neighbors.” The Fund has been established at Sussex Bank in Montague, N.J., and donations can be received there or at any Sussex Bank branch. Contributions are also being received directly at Dutch Country Treasures, and checks made out to “Our Amish Neighbors Benefit Fund” can be mailed to the store at 310 E. Harford Street, Milford, PA 18337. The phone number for further information is 570-296-6755. In addition, Dutch Country Treasures will donate 5% of the price of all Amish goods sold over the next month to the Fund. “Our goal is to present the deacon with the proceeds of the Fund in a month,” added Bylsma, “but we will continue to forward donations to him as they are received.”