After nearly $400,000 in donations to charities, 100 Men Halifax chapter ends its run

After years of giving donations to local charities, 100 Men Halifax has closed a chapter of philanthropic work that’s benefited dozens of community-based organizations.

“Every charity event has its life cycle and this has a life cycle too,” Bill VanGorder said, one of the co-founders of the organization.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Every charity event has its life cycle and this has a life cycle too," Bill VanGorder said, one of the co-founders of the organization.

100 Men Who Give a Damn, began as a small idea in 2014 to provide a way for men from Halifax to donate money to charities.

“We gather four times a year, we hear from three charities that are picked at random and the men vote and whatever charity gets the most votes, all the men write a $100 cheque to that charity. So, the charity walks away with $10,000-$20,000 from that one meeting,” VanGorder said.

In the five years since, the organization has raised nearly $400,000 for charities in the municipality ranging from animal shelters to transition homes for men in recovery from addiction.

“We opened a home 30 years ago to assist individuals who are homeless and hopeless in recovery [from] alcohol and drugs,” Joe Gibson said, the executive director of Freedom Foundation of Nova Scotia.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We opened a home 30 years ago to assist individuals who are homeless and hopeless in recovery [from] alcohol and drugs," Joe Gibson said, the executive director of Freedom Foundation of Nova Scotia.

The not-for-profit program for men in recovery from addiction was one of the recipients of a donation from 100 Men Halifax over the years.

Gibson said the money helped residents of the program gain post-secondary education.

VanGorder says there was no end date in sight for the organization when they began in 2014, but organizers felt the time has come to draw the Halifax chapter to a close.

“We knew that it was coming after five years of doing the same thing over and over. So, we decided rather than let it peter down, we wanted to have a real celebration when we finished. So, that’s why we declared this the final night,” VanGorder said.