On Saturday, September 26th, Wells Church staged their 26th annual WellsFest at Jamie Fowler Boyll Park on Lakeland Drive. After a week of rain, and even some that morning, the sun emerged for hours of local music, kids activities, and craft booths. Despite the early precipitation, a signal of the event’s good fortune came in an editorial on Wells and Shoestring in that morning’s Clarion-Ledger. Wells was kind enough to designate Operation Shoestring as this year’s beneficiary of WellsFest. Over 40 years ago, the original Operation Shoestring site was a back room of Wells Church. Great thanks to Keith Tonkel and Wells not only for their support from the proceeds of this event, but also decades of community partnership!

To see more pictures of WellsFest as well as The Clarion-Ledger editorial, click the following links.

Shoestring’s Photos from WellsFest

The Clarion-Ledger’s Photos from WellsFest

The Clarion-Ledger’s Editorial Piece

On Monday, September 28, the Delta Pi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority at Jackson State University held an on-campus economic forum centered on money-saving tips. Attendees were asked to bring canned goods, specifically to be donated to Operation Shoestring. Most Tuesday mornings, Shoestring conducts a food distribution for neighborhood households that qualify. Thanks very much to the Delta Pi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority for generously providing a literal truckload of food!

(L-R) Philip Stewart, Charity Clark, Jerome Jordan, Danielle Cooper, Dexter Iberson