A Sweet Gift

The Sisters Sweet Shoppe gives back in a sweet way

Dublin high school students will help an area child fulfill his or her wish this holiday season by making gingerbread houses for The Sisters Sweet Shoppe’s annual Gingerbread House Auction.

Students at Dublin Jerome and Dublin Scioto high schools are creating the gingerbread houses for the silent auction on Dec. 3 at the Sweet Shoppe located on High Street. The students make these gingerbread houses for a home management class they can elect to take. The event – featuring crafts, food and a silent auction – will raise money for the Make-A-Wish

For the past four years of the auction, some of the handcrafted gingerbread houses have sold for more than

Last year, the auction raised more than $700 for the foundation and helped send a young girl named Sara to Nashville to record a song she had written, says Nanette Purdy, one of the sisters who own the shop. The plan was to play Sara’s song at this year’s auction, Purdy says.

Purdy and her “fruitcake sister,” Melissa Sonksen, are strong advocates of the Gingerbread House Auction and giving back to the community.

The auction is special because it is a “fundraiser where the school pairs up with the community and raises money, when normally it’s just through the schools,” says Chelsea Dobbs, a development associate for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. “It links the students and the schools to the community.”

The auction will benefit one Make-A-Wish child, who will be from the local area. Make-A-Wish does its best to find a child from Dublin, but if this is not possible, then the auction will still benefit a local child.

One of her fondest memories, Purdy says, is when the auction supported the Ohio State School for the Blind marching band. The auction raised enough money to send the band to play at the Rose Bowl.

“It was very moving to donate to the band and then see them perform at the Rose Bowl,” she says.

Purdy also loves the event because the kids are so enthusiastic to help and lend support.

The Sisters Sweet Shoppe, besides hosting the event, purchases any unsold gingerbread houses after the event and gives them away to children who come into the shop and admire the houses.