March 2021 marked the 20th Anniversary of the Dunndeal Gazette Publications! This paper has gifted the Tampa Bay area with Christian education and placed God’s Word in print media for 20 years! It all started with the two very different people, Kay and Mark Dunn.
Kay and Mark lived separate lives and went through their own personal struggles before God put them together. On March 27, 1999, they officially got married. However, that is not where the paper started. Kay attempted to continue her life as a businesswoman while Mark was out and about trying to find another job after working in the manufacturing and transportation industry for years.
The paper was officially started by Mark in 2001 around the time of 9/11. Everyone was full of fear and sorrow during that time. People needed to hear something uplifting, enlightening, and positive in the news, and it was extremely difficult for people to even keep their faith. This is what inspired the Gazette.
As a born-again Christian, Kay wanted to help Mark build the paper from the ground up. Being the businesswoman that she is, she used her skills to help gain some loyal followers and clients while Mark used his creative side to pitch story ideas and come up with the graphics and direct his team of young men and women who represented Dunndeal Publications during its rapid growth.
At its start, the Gazette was only distributed in one zone, Westchase. Today, it is distributed to six different zones and multiple business locations for pickup. Many people wanted to show their support for Christian education, positivity, and God’s Word. The paper was a way to spread joy to those who were going through hardships. Of course, gaining this achievement was far from easy.
The paper went through many setbacks starting from the 2008 recession, which put many people out of jobs. Much like what we are currently going through, it was hard for people to pay for advertising which made things difficult for the Dunn duo. However, the paper was created for one purpose and that was to help spread the word of God and Jesus, because everyone needs to feel like they have a reason to be enlightened by something.
In 2014, Kay was diagnosed with Melanoma Cancer, another obstacle that Kay personally had to fight through. Battling cancer only made her faith stronger than ever. Mark became her caregiver with Jesus as the Great Physician. Ten months later, the bad cancer cells were dead.
This is the 20th year that the Dunndeal Gazettes have blessed the heart of Tampa with heartfelt stories that educate others on the Christian faith. It is one of the longest-running local print media papers in the city with 20 years in print and 15 years online. Even with all the adversity placed against them, Kay and Mark never stopped believing in Jesus, and all the obstacles just made them work harder than before to spread the word.
“Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:4-6