100 Airdrie Men Who Give a Damn made their quarterly donation of $10,000 to Access Child and Youth Development on July 20.
According to David Bowman, membership coordinator of 100 Airdrie Men Who Give a Damn, the goal of Access Child and Youth Development is to provide after-school and summer programs for children and youth. These programs will be available for all Airdrie youth, regardless of economic status.
Access Child and Youth Development was started by two sisters and the duo intends to use the funds to create a sponsorship program for children to access special needs supports. According to the 100 Airdrie Men meeting recap, these supports can be expensive and difficult for low-income families to access.
The Airdrie 100 group donates $10,000 every three months to different local charities. The funds are donated by men in Airdrie, who pay $100 to attend the quarterly meetings – these donations also allow them to nominate a charity for the monetary grant.
The nominated charities are then narrowed done to three organizations, which are selected by a random number generator, according to Bowman.
The three charities are invited to a quarterly meeting and to give a presentation explaining their charity, why they should receive the donation, and what the organization would do with the monetary grant if selected.
This quarter's winner was the newly-created Access Child and Youth Development.
The runner-ups of this quarter's charities were Airdrie BMX and the Festival of Lights, who each received a $1,550 donation that was acquired through sponsorship and additional Airdrie 100 Men donations.
“The goal of the group is to make a substantial difference … every three months we try to give it to a different charity,” Bowman said.
Bowman added the group has no overhead costs and is 100 per cent volunteer-led, meaning the entirety of the $100 donation goes directly to the local charity.
He also said those interested in getting involved with the group do not have to donate every three months if they don't want to.
“They’ll always get [meeting] information [but] they’re not obligated to donate any certain amount to meetings,” Bowman explained. “We realize that everybody’s situation [means they] might not be able to afford $100.”
According to Bowman, supporting Airdrie charities means creating more opportunities for the children in the community and since 2017, the group has raised over $225,000 for local Airdrie charities.
“It gives an opportunity, a lot of times to people and kids who would not normally have that opportunity without that fundraising,” he said.
The next 100 Airdrie Men That Give a Damn meeting will be hosted at the Woodside Golf Course on Oct. 18. Those interested in joining the group and donating to the upcoming meeting can visit theairdrie100.com
