ALLIANCE, Ohio — On a brisk autumn morning, Union Avenue United Methodist Church volunteers roll out pastry dough with flour-coated hands, cut it into squares of four and mold it perfectly around a delicious empire apple to make their famous apple dumplings.
Union Avenue United Methodist Church began making dumplings in 2002 as a challenge to raise money. Now in its 21st year of dumpling making, raising money isn’t so much a challenge anymore but a means to give back to the local community.
Clyde Lepley has been involved as one of the apple peelers since the fundraiser started. He started volunteering and continues to volunteer because of the fundraiser’s mission.
“It’s pretty straightforward stuff, but it takes a lot of people, usually 10 to 12 here every other day,” Leptey said. “(But we) all love the mission.”
Apple dumpling evolution
The idea to create an apple dumpling fundraiser started at the annual East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church when delegates were given $1 from the conference treasury to use as a means of raising money for local charities and non-profit organizations.
Roughly 25 people from the church pooled their money together to buy apples and flour, to make a small batch of apple dumplings. The soft launch went well, and now they make dumplings in high quantities that sell out almost every week.
The volunteer crew comes out every Monday and Tuesday morning until Thanksgiving to make dumplings.
Chris Lamb, the administrative assistant at Union Avenue United Methodist Church, says the support from the community has been overwhelming.
“Everyone is very generous. We have lots of repeat customers, people that come every year,” Lamb said.
The fundraiser was initially run by the United Methodist Women but was taken over by the United Methodist Men in 2008. 
Helping the community.
Despite an increase in apple dumpling sales, the church has still faced its share of hardships over the years, particularly when COVID-19 hit in 2020.
Margaret Brown, the volunteer kitchen manager for the apple dumpling fundraiser, says the crew making apple dumplings had to be reduced significantly and separated according to social distance procedures. They also had to change the way they handled money during this time.
But nevertheless, they persisted. Brown believes a major reason they were able to get through this period was the overwhelming amount of people who still showed up to get their dumplings.
“(People came out) maybe even a little bit more because they appreciated getting the dumplings and something they’re used to and our efforts,” Brown said. “We worked through it so we could keep producing and selling because it’s a big fundraiser.”
The fundraiser goes to support projects and community groups like Habitat for Humanity, Alliance Community Pantry, YMCA Campaign, YWCA of Alliance, Salvation Army of Alliance, Alliance Area Domestic Violence Shelter, the Communities Outreach Fund and the church’s monthly spaghetti dinners.
Lamb said a portion of funds go to Habitat for Humanity to build apostle homes.
“There’s set workdays and the church usually has one to two of the workdays during this building time. Volunteers from the church go in to nail, (they work) on framing,” Lamb said. “So in addition to the funding, we also do the physical labor aspects.”
As for the future, Brown says she will continue to be involved in the tradition of making apple dumplings because of the stories and memories made over the years.
“It’s a lot of fun, really. At the butcher block, we say there’s lots of stories they could tell because the ladies just sit there and talk the whole time around the tables,” Brown laughs. “People, all these years, generations around that table talking and telling their stories.”
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How to get dumplings:
- Sold on weekdays between 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Sunday mornings
- Purchase them at the church’s north-side parking lot
- Packs of six for $12
- Businesses can get delivered dumplings when buying five or more packs
Union Avenue United Methodist Church is located at 1843 S. Union Ave., Alliance, Ohio.
For more information, call the church at 330-823-9270.
(Reporter Liz Partsch can be reached at epartsch@farmanddairy.com or 330-337-3419.)
