Sole Purpose and WDNP partner for a fundraiser

Sole Purpose, a nonprofit outreach ministry of the young members of Dover First Moravian Church, seeks to put shoes on the feet of children in need. A pancake breakfast and silent auction is set for Saturday, March 3 to raise money for the effort. The breakfast will be held at the church, 319 Walnut St. in Dover, from 8 a.m. to noon. WDNP Radio will broadcast live from the breakfast with host Steve Shumaker.

“Sole Purpose began in 2011,” said John Wallace, pastor at First Moravian. “It was entirely the idea of our youth group. These were students who came to us with a simple thought: They realized they had plenty of shoes they didn’t need and wanted to get them into the hands of others who might need them.”

Wallace said church leadership encouraged the idea, which was initially intended to be a one-time project.

“They realized pretty quickly that there were logistical problems, like finding the right shoe sizes, and the focus changed a bit,” Wallace said. “In 2014 they began working with Dress-A-Child to find kids in grades kindergarten through fifth who needed shoes and with Payless Shoes to provide vouchers, enabling those children to go and get the shoes they needed and in the right size.”

Though the program initially covered Dover schools, Sole Purpose expanded in 2015 to include New Philadelphia schools with 283 vouchers distributed.

By 2017 Sole Purpose connected 753 kids in Dover, New Philadelphia, Uhrichsville and Dennison with shoe vouchers, reaching the chief goal of the organization in providing shoes for as many Tuscarawas County students as possible.

The fundraising target for Sole Purpose in 2018, needed by June 30, is $15,000. In addition to the upcoming pancake breakfast, the group also raises money via sale of cinnamon rolls and a sock market.

Shumaker, a Dover Schools sixth-grade teacher who hosts a regular Saturday morning program at WDNP geared toward kids, said doing a live broadcast to help promote the fundraiser is natural for him.

“It’s Shu helping kids get shoes. We will be there at 8 and on the air from 9 until 10, talking with the kids from the church, inviting folks to come down and have breakfast with us. We’ll do all the regular show segments as well.”

Shumaker said this is his first year to help out with the breakfast, though the radio station has a strong commitment to helping out other nonprofit organizations in the community. “That is a key part of our mission,” he said.

“We have to give full credit to the youth of Dover First Moravian who started Sole Purpose,” Wallace said. “They’ve continued with their good work and have seen it through in a big way.”

Tickets for the event are available via the church at $5 for adults and $3 for children under 12. Contributions to Sole Purpose can be mailed to Dover First Moravian Church, attention Sole Purpose at the address above. The group’s Facebook page is Dover First’s Sole Purpose.

The church’s information can be found at www.firstmoravianchurch.org, or it can be reached by phone at 330-364-8831.

Nonprofit organizations that would like to promote their cause may email Shumaker at WDNP, gtshu@dnpradio.org.