If you’ve driven along the streets of Sandusky, you probably know Tyrone Doward, even if you don’t know his name.
Doward, aka “the dance walker,” has been making the people of Sandusky smile on their daily drives for years. And one day more than a decade ago, one of those dance walks made Norma Wible more than smile. It made her recruit Doward for a mission.
Wible, an elder at
First Presbyterian Church in Sandusky, was in the process of organizing a program to feed those in need in the community. And she knew Doward would be a perfect addition to the group.
“I loved watching him, running up and down 250, loving life, [I] didn’t know him,” Wible says as she manages the Nov. 23 breakfast. “When we first started this, I messaged him and said, ‘Would you come to our first breakfast?’ And he did.”
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The HelmDoward has been volunteering with the ministry since 2013.You could say it was serendipity that Wible called on Doward to help in the church’s efforts, as just two weeks prior, a donor gave Wible two bags of grits to serve at upcoming breakfasts.
“Never eaten a grit. Don’t know how to cook a grit,” Wible says. “He came to me and says, ‘Well, if you got grits, I can make it.’ And he’s been here ever since making grits.”
That was 2013.
And Doward has been here, every second and fourth Saturday of the month, cooking his famous grits.
“They’re often initiated but never replicated,” Wible says of Doward’s breakfast specialty. “No one can put in the two cups of love.”
On this particular Saturday, Doward made four slow-cookers full of grits in an hour and a half. The most he’s ever cooked for one meal service was seven, although that was for a slightly longer breakfast run.
Wible and Doward, along with Carolyn Springer, organize and manage the meal service that can draw anywhere from 40-110 people each Saturday. This can pose a challenge for Wible, who does all of the ordering.
“We have to be prepared for anything,” she says.
That preparation also includes how many volunteers will be on hand to help cook, serve, and clean up after the meal each week. Those who dedicate their Saturday mornings to help–anywhere from eight to 18–come from congregations across the city, including Calvary Baptist, St. Stephens, Trinity Lutheran, as well as those who are “unchurched.”
The meal service transcends religious affiliations. This was never as apparent as it was when the community came together to fill the need after Emmanuel Temple Church could no longer continue its food program.
“There was always somewhere someone could get food on a Saturday,” Wible says.
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The HelmAll are welcome at the church's hot breakfast service.That service filled a need for community members to have a place to go for food on weekends, as Victory Temple provides meals Monday-Friday.
While there are only 20-25 in the congregation, the meals are all funded by those members, along with donations from the community.
“We have some very generous people,” Wible says. “We do what we can.”
That ministry faced another challenge during Covid, so Wible and Springer had to shift their model to still serve while remaining safe. They decided to pivot to take-out lunches.
“We still wanted to feed people, but couldn’t do it in the same way,” Wible says.
Despite the challenges, from adjusting to the pandemic to fluctuating volunteer numbers, Wible remains steadfast in her mission.
“We can’t stop this ministry,” Wible says. “There’s too many people who need this.”
And thanks to Doward’s two cups of love—and the shared dedication of volunteers across the city—every second and fourth Saturday of the month, a hot breakfast and a warm sense of community await anyone who walks through the doors of First Presbyterian Church.
Meals are served at First Presbyterian Church, 265 Jackson St., Sandusky, every second and fourth Saturday of the month. Breakfast service runs from 9:30-11 a.m., with takeout meals starting at 10:30 a.m.