Southern End

Community
Association
Media Kit
About Us Southern End Community Association

Welcome to the Southern End Community Association!

Our mission is to create recreational opportunities for the local residents of Southern
Lancaster County by providing high value programs for children and adults.
The Southern End Community Association began simply as a few gentlemen trying to gather
enough people for an adult basketball league in Quarryville, Pennsylvania. That basketball
league was a success in 1985 and was a launch point for something great. Now, it is home to
over a dozen recreational leagues and countless community events that aim to truly create a
sense of unity and togetherness in southern Lancaster County. Adults and children alike can
participate with one another in competitive and charitable balance
In the 1980s we began a basketball league, In the 1990s, we created fields and courts for more
sports and eventually charity events. In the 2000s, we raised over $20,000 for charity. Our
possibilities and goals for the community will continue to reach for the sky.
More commonly known as SECA, we pride ourselves on putting our community before anything
else. The southern end of Lancaster County is renowned as being one of the calmest, friendliest
and peaceful places to live in Pennsylvania. For over three decades, SECA has been a leader in
organizing family friendly events and organizations that aim to give back to the true spirit of
Lancaster County that create such a wonderful atmosphere: its residents.
Not only to we promise to deliver on our mission, we vow to improve upon anything that our
community requests or desires. In the last ten years, we have conducted door to door surveys and
received results from over two-thirds of all Quarryville residents. These surveys have proved
almost an absolute satisfaction with the growth an opportunity that SECA has provided in the
local community.
In the 1980s we began a basketball league, In the 1990s, we created fields and courts for more
sports and eventually charity events. In the 2000s, we raised over $20,000 for charity. SECA’s
possibilities and goals will continue to reach for the sky.
From basketball, to soccer, BINGO, to fundraising events, SECA delivers on its promise to give
back to a community that gives so much to its neighbors already.
Every organization experiences periods of transition and over our three decades of existence, we
have been fortunate to have staying power at the executive positions and board of SECA. All
have been in association with SECA for at least a decade. Following are a list of board members.
All are available for contact and immediately for interviews or sit-down meetings at a
convenience of the client.

Executive Director – Nicole Ruecker President- Terri Ridley

Vice President- Emily Durso Secretary- Chad McDowell Treasurer- Roger Strauss
Frequently Asked Questions Southern End Community Association

General
What are the different recreational activities that SECA has to offer?
SECA offers a wide range of activities that include a list of the following: basketball, inline

hockey, bowling, fitness classes, swimming, yoga, dance classes, skateboarding, football,

softball/baseball, and weight training.

What organizations sponsor SECA as a non-profit organization?

SECA has a strong relationship with local sponsors that we have seen an overwhelmingly

increased amount of sales for these organizations. SECA’s most prominent sponsors include:

JUST PRESS PLAY, Play it Again Sports, Newswanger Furniture, Don Lefevre’s Garage,

Martin’s Home Appliances, Ferguson and Hassler’s Market, and Goods Store, Inc.

What are all of the charitable organizations that SECA focuses their attention on?
SECA is very lucky to have associations with dozens of charitable organizations that seek our

donations around the holiday season in particular. A few of the more prominent charitable

organizations include: The Boys & Girls Club of America, The Salvation Army, Girls on the

Run, The Special Olympics, Stand Up 2 Cancer, and The American Heart Association.

What percentage of SECA’s donations, profits, and funds are cycled back to the

community?

100% of SECA’s profit is cycled back into the community whether it be via charity, helping

local residents or improving upon SECA’s physical foundation, absolutely every penny of

money taken in by SECA is given right back to the people that make it great.
Factsheet

 Of the approximately 1,700 local residents surveyed in 2014, 85% have declared

satisfaction with SECA’s activities and continued growth. 93% have agreed that

expanding SECA facilities would be beneficial to the community and its overall growth.

 Donations to SECA and their involvement with various charitable organizations has

increased steadily over the last ten years. SECA has agreed to partner with up to six

charities, especially during the holiday season.

 SECA has a strong bond with local sponsors that, in return, see increased sales. Since

SECA has established a long-standing bond with sponsors, they have reported increased

sales of at least 10% per fiscal quarter since their association with SECA

 Donations to SECA and boosters locally for different programs has also steadily

increased by at least 17% every decade.

 SECA has continued growth that exceeds expectations of most other community based

non-profit organizations. It has added a new recreational activity or facility at a rate of at

least one per four years.

 In the thirty years since SECA’s establishment, childhood and adult involvement in both

recreational activities and charitable cause has increased a whopping 50% in the southern

end of Lancaster County.

 Southern End Community Association

Year-End Fundraising Events Bring Lancaster Together

Join the SECA Team and Community in Holiday Bliss
Quarryville, November 16, 2015 – It’s the most wonderful time of the year again and attending
just one of the four scheduled holiday events in December can benefit those in need with the
chance of winning several prizes! Four 2-hour events will be hosted in the SECA Administration
Building that will include B-I-N-G-O on December 4, Classic board games on December 11, An
auction on December 18, and a donation and dinner event on December 23.
Our 7th Annual Holiday Fundraising Month is becoming a staple in the community that continues
our monthly fun and games. With a small donation of $5 per person per event, SECA welcomes
all in Lancaster county to each event that offers prizes for participation from gift cards to game
consoles. Every entrance donation and price auctioned item paid will go directly to The Boys and
Girls Club of America and The Salvation Army.
As a community, we know that Quarryville and Lancaster County have some of the most
generous people. They have helped raise over $15,000 during the holiday season alone over the
last six years! This number continues to grow annually and speaks volumes to the togetherness
and unity that SECA has provided and community members have represented. Help us reach our
2015 goal of $5000 in donations in one month alone!
“We want to do our best to give back to those in need, especially during the holiday season. We
want as many Lancaster residents as possible to enjoy being together and helping out a neighbor.
Nothing is more important than helping out a neighbor,” SECA Vic President Emily Durso
excitingly said, “SECA prides itself on creating opportunity for anyone both recreationally and in
a community setting. Nothing makes me happier than to represent this great community doing
great things.”
“By offering four different events on four different dates, we want to give everyone the chance to
donate to one of the several charities being sponsored this holiday season by SECA.”
Thy Boys and Girls Club of America and The Salvation Army have been providing for children
and families looking for a source of recreation and in need for decades and SECA is proud to
work with them to create better lives for all. Over the next month we hope that the hundreds
continue to show Quarryville and Lancaster pride in community as they have in years past to
their neighbors, their families, and their friends.
 ###

About SECA
The Southern End Community Association is a non-profit organization that provides Quarryville
and surrounding areas with exciting recreational activities that include facilities related to
swimming, inline hockey, event halls and other family-fun occasions. Every day, all year, SECA
aims for fun, safety, and community. Learn more at http://secarec.org
Press Contact
Name: Mark Mahalis
Mobile: 610-284-1013
Email: [email protected]
Press Kit: http://secarec.org/press-kit
Backgrounder:
Nicole Ruecker,
SECA Executive
Director
Nicole Ruecker has been the executive
director of the Southern End Community
Association since June of 2014, but her
involvement in southern Lancaster
recreational activities extends far beyond
that date. Day to day, Nicole is focused on
the development and acceleration of good
ideas that advance SECA’s mission. With a
degree from Millersville University in
social work, Ruecker has known since
adolescence that bringing people together
was her calling.
“I’ve never wanted to be anywhere else but
Lancaster County. I grew up in the southern
end, I’ve raised my kids here; this is my home,” Nicole Ruecker (Middle) meets with Tanglewood
says Ruecker. Golf Course management to discuss Quarryville
Nicole, as she said, has built a home in the teens increased interest in Golf.
southern end for her entire life and is familiar
with the residents all over the county. In local supermarkets, high school sporting events, and more,
hundreds in the community recognize her and have faith in her direction of SECA.
With a background in community organizing, youth development and her two-decade relationship with
SECA, Mrs. Ruecker is helping to expand SECA both economically and physically.
“I want SECA to be known as the leader in recreational non-profit activity in Lancaster by 2020,”
Ruecker explains, “I’ve loved every minute of working in this community and I’d love to build more
facilities northward for the chance to meet more great people and get more people involved in
community.”
Ruecker took the lead on several projects in the late 1990s and early 200s to expand SECA facilities and
offer southern end residents to a number of more recreational activities She began several petitions that
involved the construction of an inline hockey rink and the renovation of the long-standing basketball
court. Ruecker also oversaw the construction of the now locally famous “Pavilion” that hosts numerous
community events in the center of Quarryville.
Nicole Ruecker has a firm understanding of the people of southern Lancaster County and as proven that
she has what it takes to continue to lead the community’s largest non-profit organization into a future of
success and expansion that will only help those in need and those having fun.