A few years ago, Eric Schouten read an article about an organization called 100 Women Who Care and he felt inspired to create something similar for men in Toronto.oculo/Getty Images/iStockphoto
The donors: Eric Schouten and Jeff Porter
The gift: Creating 100 Guys Who Care Toronto
The reason: To provide donations to small charities
A few years ago, Eric Schouten read an article about an organization called 100 Women Who Care and he felt inspired to create something similar for men in Toronto.
100 Women Who Care started in the United States in 2006 to raise money for local charities and there are now chapters across the United States and Canada. Each chapter has at least 100 members who meet four times a year to pick a charity to support. Members then donate $100 each to the selected cause.
Mr. Schouten and his friend Jeff Porter launched 100 Guys Who Care Toronto in 2014 and, so far, the group has donated more than $100,000 to several small charities. Last year, they merged with a local chapter of 100 Women Who Care and they're holding their next joint event on June 14 to pick a charity to support.
"People enjoy giving as a group. It's more effective and more fun," said Mr. Schouten, who works for a Toronto-based marketing company called Influitive. The best part, he added, was showing up at the chosen charity and surprising them with the $10,000 donation. "These people work so hard to just get work done in the community and then to have us drop off $10,000 out of nowhere, it's definitely well received," he said.
Paul Waldie