Nominations open for Difference Makers

Celebrating the good in our community is the highlight of the Daily American Republic’s Difference Makers campaign every year. It’s a time to push the bad news to the back burner and concentrate on the positive.

Our employees look forward to sharing with our readers the many volunteers we have in our area that make a difference in the lives of others. Without their contributions, many programs and organizations wouldn’t exist.

Nominations for this year’s Difference Makers opened Wednesday and will remain open until July 28. You can nominate someone by clicking on the Difference Makers logo at the top of the DAR’s website (darnews.com) and filling out the form.

The banquet to honor the 10 finalists will be Aug. 29 at the Black River Coliseum. Doors will open at 6 p.m., and the program will start at 6:30.

If you know of someone who makes a difference in our community and the lives of our citizens, please nominate them. We encourage you to share as much information as possible about your nominee, so judges know exactly what he or she does. If they volunteer for multiple groups or organizations, please list them all.

Our goal is to provide the judges with a complete account of each nominee.

“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our region, especially when so much of the world is in turmoil, than by recognizing the problem solvers, creators of positive action and selfless caretakers of our area,” DAR editor Donna Farley said.

“I hope everyone will take a moment and look around at the people who support the many good programs and efforts in our area. If you see someone creating a positive difference, let us know. Please share who it is and give us as many details as possible on what they have done.”

DAR assistant editor Samantha Tucker looks forward to the yearly event.

“Difference Makers is the highlight of the DAR’s community involvement. Every year our writers look forward to calling the finalists with the news they’ve been nominated — happy tears are frequent,” Tucker said. “I think it’s vital to raise up all the local, unsung heroes who keep their communities going with their passion and generosity.”

As in past years, the DAR will donate a portion of its profits from the Difference Makers campaign, along with all money raised the night of the banquet, to a local charity. In our first five years of the campaign, we have donated almost $35,000 to five difference charities.

Our charity recipient this year is Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) is a national organization founded in 2012 by Luke Mickelson in Twin Falls, Idaho. It started because Mickelson wanted to help a single mom in his community who needed beds for her kids. It gained national attention in 2018 when he was featured on Mike Rowe’s program “Returning The Favor.” That same year Michelson was named one of CNN’s heroes of the year.

There are over 270 chapters across the US, Canada, and the Caribbean.

According to Dave Elledge, an officer for the Poplar Bluff chapter of SHP, the idea for a local chapter started in 2019.

“Our local chapter began in 2019 after we learned about the organization while working with the Bright Futures program in Poplar Bluff schools,” Elledge recalled.

Elledge and his wife, Luann, serve as chapter presidents, Steve Keith is the building director, and Angie Bowman is the delivery director.

Elledge serves as executive co-pastor at The Bluff Church. Elledge and Doug Osborn co-founded the church in 2010, and Mason Powell has been the teaching co-pastor since 2010.

The goal for SHP is simple.

“Sleep in Heavenly’s goal is to provide beds, free of charge, to children in our area who do not have an adequate bed of their own,” Elledge said. “The SHP motto is ‘No kids sleep on the floor in our town.’ The purpose of the organization is to do its best to solve the problem of child ‘bedlessness’ (a term that SHP coined to highlight the problem of kids without beds).”

The organization conducts “build days” for the community to take part in building the beds.

“Build days are community volunteer opportunities where people can come out and help build beds from scratch. We literally start with lumber and finish the day with a bed which has been assembled and are ready for delivery,” Elledge explained.

“Community volunteers, cut, sand, and put the lumber together in an assembly line process during the build day to create headboards and side rails for the beds.”

Families who have children ages 3-18 are eligible for a bed. They can request a bed through the SHP national website (shpbeds.org).

A family receives more than just a bed frame. They also receive a mattress, sheets, pillow, and blanket. All items are new. 

“The bedding that goes out with our beds is all donated by churches, community groups, businesses, and individuals,” Elledge said. “This allows us to use the money that is donated to purchase lumber and mattresses.”

Since August 2019 the local chapter has built 680 beds and delivered 660 of them.

Elledge said the local chapter is affiliated with The Bluff Church because he started the local chapter, but it has people from all parts of the community participating in the bed building and delivery.

“We love that. SHP is truly a community organization. ... Overall, it’s been quite amazing to watch how our community has seen the need and responded so generously.”

Elledge and his organization are humbled to be named the DAR’s Difference Maker charity recipient.

“As a past recipient of the Difference Maker award, I really appreciate what this award means in our community. It is a humbling honor for those who receive it. Now to have SHP be recognized and honored as charity for 2024 is equally humbling for us as an organization,” Elledge explained.

“I know some of the past winners like The Bread Shed, FosterAdopt Connect, and Boys & Girls Club, and to be considered in that same category as these amazing organizations is a huge honor.”

This year’s entertainment at the banquet will be Freedom and Misty Acoustic Music. The duo includes Misty DeJournett and Freedom Shearon.

They are thrilled to have the opportunity to play at the coliseum and to help a worthy cause such as Difference Makers.

“As a former employee of the DAR the Difference Makers event was my favorite event to be a part of. I love that the Difference Makers event spotlights the individuals who truly make a difference in the community and in the lives of those in need,” DeJournett said.

“It is one of those events that really tugs at your heartstrings. It is a privilege to be a part of this truly touching event.”

Shearon attended his first Difference Makers event a year ago.

“I accompanied Misty to this event last year and thought it was great that good citizens were being recognized for what they do for their community,” Shearon added. “So, I am very happy to have to opportunity to be a part of this year’s event.” 

The duo plays a variety of music from different genres, including The Beatles, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Billie Eilish, Zach Bryan, Jefferson Airplane, Noah Kahan, and Band of Heathens.

“We play old, new, rock, country, blues,” DeJournett said. “The style is always acoustic for our duo.” 

DeJournett and Shearon have taken different paths in their music careers. Shearon began playing guitar in his early teen years, and DeJournett started with karaoke in her late 30s and her career has taken off from there.

Freedom, originally from Poplar Bluff, played music with his late wife, Tonya, in Illinois for several years before returning to Poplar Bluff in 2021.

DeJournett, a Puxico native, has enjoyed music since she can remember.

“From a very young age (I remember) standing on the side of PP Highway with a sign that read ‘Will sing any song for a quarter,’” DeJournett said.

She has been performing in front of crowds for about five years.

Shearon also writes and produces his own music.

DeJournett and Shearon began playing together in late 2022.

“We met in 2022 at a jam session at a place called Freddie G’s after his cousin Kim (also a former DAR employee) mentioned we should play music together,” DeJournett recalled. “We started performing together just a few months later.”

The duo’s career has taken off since that first jam session, as they perform several shows a month.

“Our schedule varies, but we generally play anywhere from two to six shows a month. We have been really blessed with opportunities to play here in Poplar Bluff, as well as Cape Girardeau, Doniphan, Puxico, St. Claire, St. Genevieve, Scott City, and Kelso,” DeJournett said.

“We are excited to be playing at the Historic Rodgers Theater here in September.” 

What does the future hold for DeJournett and Shearon? That’s to be determined.

“We truly enjoy what we do. We had to think about this question a bit; it was, oddly, something we had not really discussed,” DeJournett said. “We would really love to release an album of our own. We have released one single so far (Drifter’s Song) and are in the process of working on several more. 

“We feel really blessed to have the opportunity to play.”

If you would like to learn more about DeJournett and Shearon’s music, go to their webpage at https://freedomandmistyacousticmusic.com/

Chris is publisher of the Daily American Republic. He can be reached at cpruett@darnews.com.