Members of the 100 Men Who Care North Dundas and representatives of the two winning organizations took a moment to pose for a photo following the event. From left: Aaron Deilah, Dan Gasser, Cindy Morgan, Vice Chair, Dundas County Hospice, Ben Baynham, Taylor Hittner, Senior Development Officer, Make a Wish Foundation, Eric Duncan, and Dan Pettigrew. Tinkess Photo

CHESTERVILLE – The annual gathering of 100 Men Who Care North Dundas took place on Thursday, October 9 at the Chesterville branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, and as is almost always the case, in an hour or less, $10,000 had been pledged and awarded. That is a good night’s work by anyone’s standard.

And it was hard work, since eight very deserving organizations had been selected to make their pitch for a share of the pot. The organizations who presented, and the amount they were asking for was as follows:

  • Chesterville Agricultural Society – $10,000 for grandstand repairs
  • Community Food Share – $4,000 for feminine hygiene products
  • Dundas County Hospice – $5,000 for approx. 185 hours of service
  • Make a Wish – $5,000 to grant three North Dundas wishes
  • Morewood Recreation Association – $5,000 for a winter carnival
  • Ontario SPCA – $3,000 for Parvo vaccine
  • United Way SDG – $7,000 for 150 gas and food gift cards
  • WDMH – $5,298 for a Sigma IV pump

With each group allowed three minutes to make their pitch, that portion of the evening wrapped up in well under a half hour, after which those registered, or their proxy took a moment to vote for who they thought was the most deserving organization.

While this was going on, and while the votes were counted, the winners from last year’s event took a moment to report how the funds they received had been used.

Renee Moores, executive director of Naiomi’s House explained that they used their grant to improve the security system at the shelter, installing new cameras, lighting and upgrading some wiring.

Arnold Scheerder, chair of the Dundas County Hospice described how they had been able to buy five wheelchairs for their equipment loan program, and through careful shopping they were able to add three walkers as well.

Kaitlin Herfkens-Uguccioni, Dundas Coordinator for the Boys and Girls Club reported that they had used $3,000 to provide healthy snacks and life skills training to 225 youths.

The North Dundas Christmas fund combined their donation with other fundraising to purchase food hampers and snowsuits which were distributed.

With the ballots counted it was time to announce the two winning organizations. (Each registered member of 100 Men has one vote and can only vote for one organization.) This year the two winners were Dundas County Hospice and Make a Wish, and each would receive $5,000.

Taylor Hittner, Senior Development officer with Make a Wish was ecstatic after her organization was selected.  “Absolutely amazing. This is so fantastic, just fantastic,” said Hittner.  “We’re so grateful for this support, and it’s going to go directly to helping us grant wishes. We have so many wishes on the go right now, and this is going to make a significant difference.

“All the 100 Men Who Care who are here tonight are helping us transform lives, one wish at a time, so thank you.”

One person can make a difference, especially when they bring along 99 of their friends and it really doesn’t take long to do so. Next year, maybe even more good can be done, especially if each person brought a friend.