Clarksville senior begins project to raise money to purchase running shoes for school’s track, cross country athletes

CLARKSVILLE — Matthew Dunsworth has left quite an impression during his three years at Clarksville, having accumulated nine state championships in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.

The senior, however, wants to leave an even bigger and more lasting footprint on those events — something that will carry on for a long time, well after he has left the school.

Dunsworth has begun Shoes for Success, a program to help defer expenses for those who want to run track and cross country at the school, but can’t afford quality running shoes.

“It all started when I started seeing the people around me on my team,” Dunsworth said. “I’ve seen the shoes they run in. I’ve seen kids in meets running in Converse or some running in Crocs, just because they can’t afford the proper shoes. They aren’t blessed to have the resources that I’ve had.

“I always wanted to do something to help them out, and I’ve given people my shoes. But I also knew that once I left, I would be done. So I wanted something bigger than me, and I decided to start raising money for it.”

His initial goal was to raise $25,000 for this project, and he visited with officials with the University of the Ozarks to seek the best way to distribute the money and make sure it gets to the proper people. The result was to begin an endowment fund, where the proceeds raised can be used to purchase quality running shoes.

He also spent time talking to his parents and to Clarksville Athletic Director Michael Banning about what he wanted to do, and he kicked it off back in January when he spoke to the local Rotary Club.

“Matthew and I had visited about what he could give back to our athletic programs and to our community,” Banning said. “One day, he came up to me and told me he knew what he wanted to do, and I told him to go for it.

“I was fortunate to go with him to one of the Rotary Club meetings, and he got up and spoke to the men and women in our community. He had his flash cards and knew what he was going to say, then he just took off — little to no card usage, and he killed it. I was proud of him.”

Before he made his speech, Dunsworth had already put his money where his mouth was. He contributed $1,000 himself, all of it coming from a job he works at a local restaurant for the past 2 years. The restaurant’s owner also contributed $500 to the cause.

Banning, however, said that once Dunsworth finished his speech, those in attendance at the Rotary Club meeting quickly went to their checkbooks. As a result, Dunsworth has already surpassed the $10,000 mark for his project, including a $3,000 donation two weeks ago from an anonymous person.

“As soon as I started it, I wanted the first money to be mine,” Dunsworth said. “I can’t ask people to donate if I wasn’t willing to donate some of mine. Now I’ve been getting a lot of letters, and some of them are anonymous about it. The letter would say ‘Hey, one of my friends told me about this and it’s an awesome cause,’ and there would be a check.

“I’ve even had people — and I don’t know who they are — walk up to me. I’ll be out of town and they say ‘I’ve heard about your fund and we want to do something. It’s been super cool, and it’s become bigger than me. So when somebody gives me a donation, the first thing I do is write a thank-you card. So I wrote one for that big donation, and now I’m trying to figure out who it was.”

Dunsworth will participate in his final high school race this evening at Russellville when the three-time Class 4A state champion in the 1,600 meters runs that race during the Meet of Champs. He has already signed to run track and cross country with Arkansas State University and will soon make his way to Jonesboro.

In the meantime, he wants to keep Shoes for Success running strong. Although the proceeds is currently intended to help students at his school, Dunsworth said he wouldn’t mind branching out to neighboring schools such as Lamar or Johnson County Westside if there is enough growth with his program.

He said he will continue talking about his project “as long as people will listen to me,” which usually happens at races, and he’s also speaking to shoe stores in the Clarksville and Russellville area to see if they would like to help out in any way. He’s also discussed the idea of flyers with a quick summary of the project that he can hand to people wherever he goes.

All these plans Dunsworth has for carrying out Shoes for Success don’t surprise Banning one bit.

“He’s got it,” Banning said. “I never doubted him one second. I didn’t know how much he was going to raise, but I know Matthew Dunsworth. And I know when he gets involved with something, he’s going to go full throttle.

“You get around him, and he’s contagious. You want some of it. When he told me what he wanted to do, I wanted to do everything I could to help him.”