When you can help one charity it is a good thing, but when you can help four, it is even better. Following the 100 Men Who Care North Dundas meeting on Oct. 10, the successful charities and the members of the 100 Men Who Care North Dundas board gathered for a photo. Front row (from left): Abbi Cabers, Alex Cabers, Emilie Bussieres, Kaitlin Herfkens-Uguccioni (Boys and Girls Club), Arnold Scheerder, Dundas County Hospice, Renee Moores, Naomi House, Joe Brennan, treasurer, North Dundas Christmas Fund. Back row, (from left), Ben Baynham, Dan Gasser, Chair, Eric Duncan, MP, Stormont, Dundas, and South Glengarry, Aaron Dellah, Diane Crummy, absent Dan Pettigrew. Tinkess Photo

CHESTERVILLE – One Hundred Men Who Care North Dundas gathered for their annual meeting on Thurs., Oct. 10 at the Chesterville Legion, and before the night was over, they had managed to help four of the charities who were in attendance.

When chairman Dan Gasser took to the podium to welcome everyone, the 100 Men had grown to 110, meaning that there would be $11,000 to be distributed to the selected charities by the end of the evening. The number of charities can vary from year to year, and for this round, there were eight (8) which had their application accepted.

The order that the groups get to present was picked at random. Each charity has three minutes to introduce themselves, explain their project and why they’re deserving of the group’s support. With eight charities presenting, the entire process leading up to the vote took slightly more than 24 minutes.

Each person who had registered and agreed to donate $100 was given a nametag along with a ballot listing the eight charities. After hearing the presentation each person puts a check mark beside the name of the charity they select and deposits the ballot in a ballot box. Once all the ballots have been received, the votes are tallied, and the winner(s) announced.

On this evening, since the maximum “ask” a charity can make is for $10,000, and there was $11,000 pledged, at least two charities would receive some support.

The eight charities and the project they wished to fund were as follows:

  • Winchester District Memorial Hospital (WDMH) Foundation. They requested $10,000, to be used to purchase a new Pigg O Stat pediatric immobilizer used for positioning young children properly for x-rays. The total cost is $11,000.
  • North Dundas Christmas fund. They requested $5,000 to help with the purchase of snowsuits and food for Christmas baskets.
  • Dundas County Hospice. They requested $2,500 to upgrade their equipment lending program.
  • House of Lazarus Handyman Heroes program. They requested $10,000 for materials for their program which matches up tradespeople who donate their time to complete repairs for people in need.
  • Dundas County Boys and Girls Club. They requested $3,000 to help fund expand their food-related (healthy eating, learn to cook, food security) programming.
  • Chesterville and District Agricultural Society. They requested $10,000 to be used in the grandstand revitalization program.
  • Naomi’s House. They requested $5,000 for improvements to lighting and security.
  • Habitat for Humanity. They requested $10,000 for their critical repairs program.

When the votes were tallied, Naomi’s House received the most votes, which meant they would receive their full ask of $5,000 for lighting and security upgrades. Dundas County Hospice had the second highest number of votes, so they will receive their full ask of $2,500 for their equipment lending program.

The third highest vote getter was the Boys and Girls Club, so they will receive their full ask of $3,000 for expansion of their food-related programming. The $500 remaining went to the North Dundas Christmas Fund, which while not enough to fund their ask of $5,000, would certainly help.

Renee Moores, the executive director of Naomi’s House was asked how she felt when she learned that her organization had received the highest number of votes and would receive their full ask.

“Very happy, because it shows that there’s support in all of our community members for our services and particularly for the residents who live at Naomi’s house,” said Moores.

It was worth noting that Naomi’s House, and many of the other charitable groups asked for far less than the $10,000 maximum, and in fact, all four that did receive funding requested no more than $5,000. The majority asked only for what they need, rather than think, here’s our chance, maybe we can get something else fixed or added, because everyone knows, there’s always something else that needs being done, there is always a need, there is always something else that comes up. What is the thought process in deciding what to ask for?

“We think it’s really important to find matching dollars and do what we can also to contribute to the greater ask and figure things out a little bit on our own,” said Moores, “So when we’re asking for help, it’s because we need it.”

Joe Brennan, the treasurer for North Dundas Christmas Fund was grateful for the $500 his organization would receive. He explained that it wasn’t as simple as how many baskets could be purchased with $500. There are other sources of fundraising, other projects that help put everything together.

It also depends on how you look at it, for example how many snowsuits at end of season prices could it buy, if a retailer is prepared to hold them for you, or how many hams or turkeys at $20-$25 could it buy. Each donation is just a step along the way, and each year, the results are amazing. “You know, for this group of eight to 12 people to help 500 people every holiday season, that’s a lot of people.”

It is, and it isn’t unheard of for any of the charities that don’t get what they are asking for to be approached before the end of the evening with offers of ways to help them reach their goal.

Nothing promotes giving, like giving and the people who live in this area are as generous as you will find anywhere. The 100 Men Who Care North Dundas have found a way to accomplish it very quickly and efficiently, and they do it year after year.