The first quarterly meeting of Guys Who Give Morgan County did not disappoint!

Fifty-three (53) founding members met last week at Grassyfork Fisheries at 5:30 pm and before 7 pm voted to award Habitat For Humanity over $15,000.  Way to come together for Morgan County nonprofits, Guys!

After the huge success of 100+ Women Who Care in March, I was feeling pressure to have an equally triumphant start to our men’s group.  I will say, this was a tougher nut to crack.  Three days before the event, we had only 30 members.  That would be a respectable number but 100+ Women set the bar with 81 founding members.  So the push was on, and in 3 days, these Morgan County guys answered the calls, emails, social media posts, and showed up.

Craig Fenneman kicked off the night sharing the history of the building which he restored to its full glory after purchasing the run-down building from the Morgan County Historical Society in 2012.  The room where we sat had been the bustling showroom floor throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s for Grassyfork Farms, the oldest commercial goldfish hatchery in the United States.  Built by Eugene Shireman, he inherited the swampy land in 1899.  Too wet for farming, he thought the land was useless until deciding to raise goldfish which he had seen for the first time at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893.  After much trial and error, he eventually cultivated a thriving goldfish population.  By the late 1930s, Grassyfork was producing an estimated 75 percent of all commercial goldfish, and during World War II expanded sales “across the pond” (pun intended) to England.  The building was a tourist destination and spawned other businesses selling accessories to pop up around town.  Thank you, Craig Fenneman, for restoring and sharing this Indiana Landmark which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.  Talk about a Guy Who Gives!

The evening was sponsored by our local, loyal Home Bank.  Old friends and new gathered in this gorgeous venue and enjoyed “man food” from Distinguished Wein of Mooresville – brats, hotdogs, toppings, and sides.  Michelle Keller of Brickhouse bartended, while Mike Washington of MWP Images in Mooresville captured the night with his flawless photography.  After a few opening remarks, I reviewed the procedure and rules, keeping it more concise for the male audience (women tend to like more details!)

Morgan County nonprofits were nominated and three (3) randomly drawn in front of the crowd from a baseball helmet (again, all details tailored to men!)  Boys & Girls Club was first drawn, and Development director Shane Williams took the stage.  Shane and his wife Rebecca are long time, passionate supporters of The Club.  Shane made an impressive plea to support the needs of The Club. They provide extensive services to school-aged students before and after school and during school breaks, including summer.  From meals to homework and tutoring, basketball, ping pong, bicycling, clubs and even ant farming, there is constant engagement for these young minds.  When fielding questions from the crowd, he explained their current need to purchase three sets of virtual reality goggles for their teens to experience career and travel opportunities. Great job, Shane!

Next drawn was the YMCA.  Executive Director Dave Nash enlightened the crowd with all they are doing for Morgan County.  Besides their well-known youth sports and adult exercise programs, they are serving more than 4,000 meals a year.  Perhaps more significant is the before and after school childcare programs they provide at the elementary schools in Martinsville and now at First Christian Church in Mooresville and soon at Monrovia Christian Church.  Since Morgan County is in a childcare desert, this is an invaluable service to families in our community.  Expanding these services is a must, and it takes dollars to do it.  Dave presented a passionate plea for community support!

Steve Oliver gave an impassioned plea for Habitat For Humanity after being the last nonprofit drawn from the helmet.  With four builds planned each year, Morgan County’s Habitat is nationally unique not only because of this robust schedule, but also because one build is entirely completed by high school students!  Talk about preparing the next generation for serving their community – I love it!  Steve explained they are short on funding for the fall build.  Morgan County’s affordable housing shortage is one of our greatest challenges, and his plea for assistance obviously resonated with the crowd.  After counting the votes, the clear winner of was Habitat for Humanity!

The evening was everything I expected – community-minded men giving their time, talents, and treasures to our nonprofit community.  There is not a better time to join.  CFMC will triple the quarterly meeting donations, and Lilly Endowment Gift VIII triples the membership donation.  Please consider joining these guys July 22nd.  You won’t leave disappointed.