Ripley boys start Hamilton chapter of 100 Men Who Give a Damn

They may have moved away from their Ripley roots, but for Jeremiah (above, left) and Nathan Pike, giving back to their community is a major part of their lives.

Sons of Bill and Sharon Pike of Huron-Kinloss Township, Jeremiah was living in Stratford, while Nathan was living in Kitchener up until a couple of years ago when they both ended up moving to the Hamilton area.

Jeremiah and his wife, Erin, and their sons, Matt, 2, and Zachary, seven months, live in Dundas where he works for RBC Royal Bank, while she works in palliative care at the McMaster University Medical Centre.

Nathan and Erica live in Hamilton where he works for an industrial distribution company, and she works as a psychologist.

Both Jeremiah and Nathan have always been involved in their community. So, when they moved to Hamilton, they were searching for ways to help out.

Erin became involved in a group called "100 Women Who Care Hamilton-Wentworth," and her cousin opened a chapter for men in Windsor called "100 Men Who Give a Damn."

"My wife suggested to me that perhaps we could start a similar group here," says Jeremiah. "So, I called Nathan and we thought, why not?"

The men's group is modelled directly after the women's group, says Jeremiah.

Here's how it works:
 

• Each member commits to donating $100 per meeting, four times per year. Meetings are diligently conducted in one hour or less.
• Any member who has signed a commitment form and is current with his donations, may submit an Organization Submission Fact Sheet to nominate an organization for consideration at a meeting.
• The nominating members of three randomly-selected organizations will make a seven-minute presentation about the organization to the group and a question-and-answer session will follow.
• Each member who has signed a commitment form and who is current with his donations, may vote (by ballot) for one of the three organizations.
• Each member will write a cheque for $100 to the organization receiving the most votes.
• The selected organization will receive a group donation of $10,000 or more!
• Members who did not vote for the selected organization agree to make their donation regardless.
• Members will receive a tax receipt directly from the organization.
• Members who are unable to attend a meeting are expected to give their cheques to another member to deliver on their behalf.
• Organizations under consideration must serve the Hamilton-Wentworth area and provide individual tax receipts directly to contributing members.
• An organization not selected at one meeting may be submitted again at a subsequent meeting.
• A successful organization is not eligible for future consideration but the nominating member may submit the name of another organization.
• Ties will be decided by further votes. If a tie persists, the membership will vote to either: 1. randomly select one of the tied organizations by draw; or 2. divide the group donation equally between the tied organizations.
• The selected organization must agree not to give out member information to any third parties except for tax purposes.
• Each meeting will open with a five-minute update on how the funds donated at the previous meeting were used by the successful organization.

Jeremiah and Nathan are holding their first meeting April 20 at 7:30 p.m. and hope to have about 60 men attend, and then build from there.

"The meetings are fun and social," says Jeremiah, "and the pitches from charities and causes are kept short and direct - no power points, hand-outs or slick technical presentations. And the best part is, the following week, hearing about what the money was used for to benefit the community."

"The more I looked into this," adds Nathan, "the more the simplicity appealed to me."

Because, in the end, it's all about giving back to the community which they agree was instilled in them by their parents. "Mom cares, and Dad gives a damn," says Jeremiah.

They also agreed it would be a great idea to start men's and women's chapters in the Grey-Bruce area, since these organizations could do a lot for small communities as well as large urban centres.