100 Men Kawartha Lakes has done it again.
This time, members of the collective philanthropy group gathered on June 5 at the Fenelon Falls Legion for camaraderie and to cast their ballots for their choice of three local charities to receive a cut of a combined total of more than $15,000 in donations.
As happens ahead of each of the group’s quarterly meetings, three nominated organizations are drawn at random and a representative from each organization attends the meeting to make a brief presentation on their organization’s work and how the group would spend and benefit from a donation. Members then vote on which charity should receive the group’s largest donation.
During this second meeting of 2025, the three charities were Lindsay Little Theatre, the Lindsay Agricultural Society, and the Kinsmen Club of Lindsay.
As a result of receiving the most votes, the Lindsay Agricultural Society received a $10,000-plus donation, with Lindsay Little Theatre and the Kinsmen Club of Lindsay each receiving $2,500.
According to 100 Men Kawartha Lakes member Brad Campkin, Lindsay Agricultural Society general manager Lance Nachoff told the group the society will use the donation to create a special booth at its events for the use of local charities to provide information about what they do and for fundraising.
Nachoff said he expected the donation from 100 Men Kawartha Lakes will generate over $100,000 worth of advertising, promotions, and donations for local charities.
During the meeting, the group also heard from Jack Veitch of the Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA HKPR) about how the March donation from 100 Men Kawartha Lakes has impacted the lives of local residents who needed mental health support.
Campkin told kawarthaNOW the meeting was “a huge success,” noting that collective philanthropy is “a simple concept — four meetings a year, each guy donates $100 in just under one hour.”
“If you cannot make a meeting, it’s no problem,” he said, adding that members can send their donation to the Community Foundation of Kawartha Lakes, which administers a fund on behalf of 100 Men Kawartha Lakes to assist with some of the financial and administrative tasks related to donation collection, tax receipting, and funds management.
As is common practice with collective philanthropy groups, 100 Men Kawartha Lakes previously chose a single charity to receive their donations. However, as the group grew well beyond 100 members, it decided to provide a portion of the donations to the other presenting charities.
“As our group has grown, we have realized all the monies going to one charity was excessive,” Campkin said.
So far in 2025, the group has donated almost $30,000 to local charities, bringing the total since the group’s formation in 2018 to nearly $280,000 donated to 38 organizations.
“At the June meeting, we had several new members bringing our total members to just over 170,” Campkin added. “When we hit 200, we will vote on staying as one group or separating into three,” which would serve the Fenelon Falls, Lindsay, and Bobcaygeon areas.
“We expect our September and December meetings to be epic with more new members and bringing our total donations for the year 2025 to over $65,000.”
For more information about 100 Men Kawartha Lakes or to join, visit 100menkawarthalakes.ca.
