100 Men makes big quarterly contribution to community
The Penticton Vees and the South Okanagan Events Centre partnered up Oct. 24 to host the quarterly meeting of 100 Men Who Care – Penticton, which donated $7,700 to three local charities. The SOEC provided the meeting space and food, while the Vees provided complimentary tickets for members to stay and watch the club play the Coquitlam Express.
The Okanagan Boys & Girls Clubs in Penticton received $6,160 to support its Community Kitchen Program. Once a month, families learn skills such as how to shop on a budget, use coupons, read nutritional labels, preparing menus for nutritional meals and cooking skills. The Boys & Girls Clubs provides the food, kitchen and supplies for these families to prepare the meals to take home. Last year, a total of 3,780 lunches were served to children and parents, plus 850 meals cooked and taken home for families to enjoy.
The South Okanagan Women In Need Society received $770 towards a proposed new initiative, Sexual Assault Support Services or S.A.S.S., a program to support sexual assault survivors with all necessary community supports at the same entry point. This “wrap around” approach will help mitigate re-victimization and further trauma and provide a streamlined response for sexual assault survivors, increase awareness and education, and remove barriers to reporting.
And the Penticton Soupateria Society also received $770. Many people do not have ready access to hot meals, whether they be homeless, single parents with children, lonely senior citizens and others. The Soupateria offers a hot meal once a day and an opportunity to meet others and socialize. The average cost of a meal is $2.05 and the Soupateria serves over 45,000 nutritious meals each year. The funds from 100 Men will be used to continue to provide meals to those who need this support.
To date, 100 Men has donated $66,100 to 30 charitable organizations in the South Okanagan-Similkameen.
The next meeting of 100 Men is set for Jan. 23, location to be determined.
The group meets four times annually to hear pitches from three different charitable organizations. Each member puts in $100 and then votes on which charity should get the cash.
The winner gets 80 per cent, while the other two split the balance.
New members are always welcome. For more information, visit www.100menpenticton.com or email info@100menpenticton.com.