Mike Smith and a group of a hundred fellow men have been giving a damn about their community for almost nine years now.
Smith started the local chapter of the 100 Men Who Give a Damn nearly nine years ago to help others give back to their community. The group meets every four months, pooling donations to give tens of thousands to charities across Newmarket and Aurora each year.
With burgeoning numbers and many charities in need of support, Smith is now hoping to change the name of the group, to become 200 men giving a damn and donating to their community.
“There is a growing need in our community for more money to charities,” he said. “If we can create more awareness within our community and drive more revenue for the charities, it’s a win-win. I think the charities out there certainly are desperate, some more than others.”
The group hopes to build toward that with a special recruitment night at its next meeting March 6, asking its members to bring a buddy. The group currently sits at 134 members but hopes to expand to 200 men by the end of the year.
100 Men Who Give a Damn has local chapters globally, an offshoot of 100 Women Who Care. It is a grassroots organization where local men gather to decide on charities to give to locally on a quarterly basis, along with chances to network.
Local men each give $400 for a full year’s membership, then decide on charities to donate to every quarter. Smith said they have donated to all kinds of charities, but he hopes to give some particular focus to smaller ones locally.
“There are growing groups of charities in our community that just don’t get any funding unless they go and raise it themselves,” he said. “Being able to provide them, through 100 men, with upwards of $20,000 a meeting, that would be a big help.”
Adding more men to the group would be a way to help make that possible, Smith said. Being part of this group is one of the most efficient ways to give back to a community, he added.
“We meet once a quarter, an hour,” he said, adding that this "is an efficient way to give back and learn something about the community and feel good about what you’ve just done. That’s why they should come by.”
Anyone can come and check out a meeting with no commitment, Smith said. He added that he is not that big on recruitment generally, and people either understand their efforts or do not.
Still, he said, “If we get to 200 guys, that can make a difference for some of these charities.”
The group’s next meeting is March 6 at the Armoury in Aurora, with doors opening at 6 p.m. and the meeting starting at 7 p.m. You can get more information by contacting [email protected] or [email protected].
