Galway organisation, 100 Men Who Give A Damn, has been described as the ‘Dragon’s Den’ for charities by providing funding opportunities for specific projects. Every quarter, the organisation’s members’ invite three local charities to deliver a five-minute pitch on why their charity needs funds. The winning charity receives €100 from each member, potentially receiving up to €10,000.
Since its inception in early 2016, 100 Men Who Give A Damn has supported the local community by raising €19,000 for charities including Galway Simon Community, the Manuela Riedo Foundation, Down Syndrome Ireland, and Children’s Language Development Preschool.
Their latest beneficiary, homeless charity Galway Simon Community, was the winning charity of their November 2016 pitch event and received a donation of €5,100 at the event. This total then rose to €5,900 after further contributions from absent members’.
The funds were put towards Galway Simon’s Essentials Fund which supports people with a variety of basic essentials such as heating, electricity and groceries, and its main goal is to prevent people from sliding into emergency homeless provision. So far through the fund, 100 Men Who Give A Damn! have supported 32 individuals and seven families facing homelessness in Galway.
Long standing member of 100 Men Who Give A Damn!, Joe Bruen, became involved in the organisation after an informal chat with Craig Brown, a Canadian now based in Galway.
Joe has been living in Galway for almost 10 years and is the owner of a financial brokerage with clients all over the west of Ireland.
“I thought it was a fantastic concept, very original and immediately I was hooked”, Joe explained. “It means a lot to me personally to have an active role in the group. As a business owner, I feel there are many ways that local companies or businesses can get involved when it comes to Corporate Social Responsibility. Many will talk the talk but each of us, regardless of business size or profitability, are beholden to community based charities like Galway Simon to put our ‘shoulders to the wheel’.
With so much divisiveness in Irish society these days, I believe that no one should be left behind when we live in such a generous and vibrant city as Galway”, he said. “It’s always a pleasure to chat to other businessmen in Galway about 100 Men and to see the enthusiasm for the concept and eagerness for so many to get involved,” Joe added.
Joe urged other Galway men to get involved in this great initiative, saying “try it, you’ll love it. When you look around the room following a charity’s pitch and you can see that it has struck a chord, it’s a pretty powerful thing. The ‘Dragon’s Den’ pitch concept works so well with the audience and it’s always a good buzz to get to see familiar faces at each quarterly pitch event.”
100 Men Who Give A Damn! are having their first meet up of 2017 next Thursday February 9 at 6pm in the Mick Lally Theatre on Druid’s Lane and they are inviting Galway men to join them in voting on their next beneficiary.
For more information, visit their website www.100men.ie or contact Craig Brown by emailing [email protected].
