Dads can celebrate and appreciate each others’ parenting work on the night of June 15, 2024 — Fathers Eve.

The annual event, now in its 13th year, is meant to allow dads to have a chance to show gratitude and support for one another. This differs from Father’s Day as that holiday is for families to honor dads.

Since 2012, groups of fathers have gathered formally or informally in public or private spaces to swap parenting stories, offer support to each other and help foster a positive fathering environment. John Francis, a co-organizer of our Twin Cities Dads Group in Minnesota, began the tradition by inviting several dad friends to his house for beers, billiards and swapping stories about fatherhood. Fathers Eve is now recognized as an official “national day” by the National Day Archives.

Over the years, scores of celebrations have been held annually in backyards and businesses across the United States and a few international locations. The organization has also helped raise thousands of dollars for parenting and children’s organizations.

Where to celebrate Fathers Eve 2024

Several City Dads chapters will be among those hosting Fathers Eve 2024 events (click city to find event listing and RSVP) :

• Charlotte, N.C.
• Chicago
• Cincinnati
• Columbus, Ohio
• Denver
• Fresno, Calif.
• Los Angeles
• Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. – Twin Cities
• New York City – Port Washington
• Phoenix

(DISCLOSURE: City Dads Group has been a longtime sponsor for Fathers Eve, donating money and helping organize events through our chapters. Fathering Together is also a sponsor.)

A complete listing of Fathers Eve 2024 events can be found on its website.

Virtual celebration available online

If you can’t attend a Fathers Eve 2024 event in person, don’t despair. A virtual online live-streaming of celebrations will again be held this year. A live stream replaced in-person events in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has supplemented organized celebrations since.

The online event starts at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on June 15. The countdowns to the annual celebratory toast start shortly before the start of 8 p.m. local time in each U.S. time zone. You can sign up for the live stream to share at your event or watch individually.

Dads and their children have a chance to take a little off the top for free this weekend.

Our longtime partner Dove Men+Care is partnering with 22 Bishops Cuts/Color barber shops across the country on Saturday, Dec. 8, to offer complimentary haircuts, washes and styling using Dove Men+Care products to guys and their offspring as part of a promotion. Our City Dads Group members and their children have been asked be special guests at the “Holiday Shear” events being held in 13 cities.

“To help families spend more time together while preparing for the holiday season, Dove Men+Care is giving the gift of free washes and haircuts to men and the children in their lives by spreading #HolidayShear,” the men’s grooming products company wrote in a news release.

City Dads Group chapters have been asked by DM+C to be special guests at these events. Meetups have been arranged by our organizers in the following cities (click the link then check out the group’s scheduled meetups for location and time details):

• Atlanta
• Charlotte
• Chicago
• Cincinnati
• Columbus, Ohio
• Denver
• Houston
• Los Angeles
• Phoenix
• Portland, Ore.
• Sacramento
• San Diego
• San Francisco 

In addition to the free haircuts, Dove Men+Care will have activity cards to encourage some father-child bonding through drawing, playing and conversation. Photo opportunities will also be held so the dads and kids can show off their new holiday haircuts.

Bishops Cuts/Color is a national chain, founded in Portland, Ore, that is predominately minority owned, that offers affordable haircuts and gives back to each of its communities, according to its website.

For a list of all the participating Bishops Cuts/Colors locations, visit bishops.co.

If you’re unable to attend one of these events, you can check out photos on our Twitter and Instagram social media feeds or by searching #HolidayShear.

Over the years, City Dads Group and its many chapters have partnered with Dove Men+Care for many events and promotions such as March Madness parties and tickets.

DISCLOSURE: City Dads Group chapters have been compensated by Dove Men+Care to participate and promote this free event. The event will begin at 9 a.m., local time, for City Dads Group members and run until 9 p.m., or until Dove Men+Care supplies are depleted, whichever occurs first.  Gratuities are not included, and any other services obtained that day will be charged at regular prices.  No substitutions allowed, and walk-ins (no appointments) only.  You must be present to reserve a spot in line.  No rain checks for any services unable to be completed by the end of the event.

Photo: Andi Whiskey on Unsplash

Pediatric cancer is in the sights of City Dads Group this June as we team with the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) to raise money to help find a cure.

City Dads Group chapters in a dozen cities from coast-to-coast will set up stands between June 2 and 10 to sell lemonade and take donations to go to the national nonprofit’s work funding research to find better treatments and cures for childhood cancer.

Details, including times and locations for each group’s event this year, will be made available on the City Dads Group’s ALSF fundraising page or on the group’s Meetup page (see list below).

City Dads Group previously raised funds with Alex’s Lemonade Stand in 2016, but this year’s model should be even sweeter thanks to our ongoing partnership with Plum Organics. The nation’s leading organic baby food brand is helping our chapters out with supplies for their stands, and will provide snacks and samples for patrons.

• Boston – June 8
• Charlotte – June 4
• Chicago – June 9
• Dallas – June 9
• Fresno, Calif. – June 7
• Kansas City – June 2
• Los Angeles- June 10
• Madison, Wisc. – June 8
• New York City – June 5
• Portland, Ore. – June 9
• San Francisco – June 2
• Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul), Minn – June 2

City Dads Group and Plum Organics® will again work together to help nourish children and assist families in need on Giving Tuesday, an international day of helping others that follows Thanksgiving.

On Nov. 28, City Dads in 12 U.S. metropolitan areas will help pack and distribute food donated by Plum Organics, the nation’s leading organic baby food brand. Plum Organics last year for Giving Tuesday donated more than 24,000 meals to charitable organizations chosen by our chapters in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and the Minneapolis/St. Paul.

** Watch video of our 2016 Giving Tuesday work **

“We are proud to expand our Giving Tuesday partnership with Plum Organics to support nonprofits that support families in need across the United States,” said Matt Schneider, co-founder of City Dads Group. “Our dads are very proud to be able to provide time and much needed food to our communities.”

Where we are helping on Giving Tuesday

Our members will help pack, stock and distribute the Plum Organics donation and perform other volunteer work to the following organizations:

• Boston/Providence Dads Group have chosen to assist the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, which will distribute the food through its 160 agency partners that reach 57,000 individuals monthly.
• The Charlotte Dads Group plans to work with Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, which distributed more than 50 million pounds of food and household items throughout its 19 county service region during its most recent fiscal year.
• Chicago Dads Group will assist clients of Palatine Township Food Pantry, an organization that serves an average of 345 families each month.
• Dallas Dads Group has chosen to work with Hope Supply Co. which assists 1,100 homeless children in North Texas every day.
• The Fresno Dads Group will work with Community Food Bank, which serves more than 280,000 people each month through a variety of programs.
• Kansas City Dads Group has chosen to help Harvesters Community Food Network, a regional food bank serving northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas that assists more than 620 not-for-profit agencies.
• The Los Angeles and NYC Dads Groups will again help GOOD+ Foundation, a nonprofit group that works with a network of more than 100 community-based organizations across the country to distribute essentials to families in need.
• Madison Dads Group in Wisconsin will assist the Goodman Community Center, which helps income-limited families through a food pantry, before- and after-school programs and other services.
• Our Portland Dads Group will work with the Oregon Food Bank, a central hub for supplying food pantries across the entire Pacific Northwest state.
• San Francisco Dads Group has selected the SF-Marin Food Bank to be its partner. The nonprofit provides more than 100,000 meals a day through 250 area food pantries.
• Twin Cities Dads Group in Minnesota will volunteer with Second Harvest Heartland, one of the nation’s largest food banks.

“At Plum, our mission is to nourish little ones with the very best food from the very first bite. Back in 2013, we founded The Full Effect® program to extend our mission to little ones in need. In America, 1 in 5 children is food insecure. That’s approximately 13 million kids,” Mandy Geisler, senior marketing manager at Plum Organics, said in a written statement. “The global giving movement Giving Tuesday is a great platform to raise awareness about this issue. By partnering with City Dads Group again this year, we’re able to bring organic baby food donations to organizations in twelve of their locations nationwide.”

City Dads Group members and others who are not able to participate in any of these events in person can follow our work on Twitter and Instagram. By using hashtags #PlumParents and #GivingTuesday, you can see pictures of our dads across the country supporting families in need.

Giving Tuesday is a global day of outreach dedicated to helping others. It’s meant to kick-off the holiday season and inspire people to collaborate in improving their local communities. Since its 2012 inception, tens of thousands of organizations worldwide annually participate in the day.

This will be the fourth consecutive year City Dads outposts around the country have participated in Giving Tuesday activities, and the second that Plum Organics has served as our national sponsor.

DISCLOSURE: Plum Organics is partnering with City Dads Group for the Giving Tuesday work mentioned above through a donation of goods and financial compensation.

We have five City Dads Group members on the new Modern Dads Podcast who will put you a little more at ease by sharing their tales of raising tweens and teens in today’s crazy world.

City Dads columnist Whit Honea, a member of our L.A. Dads Group and the author of The Parents’ Phrase Book, discusses dealing with the excessive homework his 11-year old son receives from one of his teachers.

City Dads columnist Seth Taylor, a California-based college professor and writer, worries about the possible negative reaction his daughter will receive from classmates to her very public support of the gay community.

City Dads columnist Vincent O’Keefe, an at-home dad and parenting writer who is a member of our Cleveland Dads Group, remembers how he reacted when he realized his tween daughter had became a teen.

Leadership coach, speaker and NYC Dads Group member Devon Bandison recalls the exact moment he knew his 15-year old son was watching his every move.

And finally, blogger and photographer Jeff Bogle, a Philly Dads Group member, encourages dads to break down tropes and embrace being the fathers of daughters living in a modern world.

The highlight of my Dad 2.0 Summit 2017 experience was when I had the privilege of moderating an exclusive talk with Marc Webb for the  City Dads Group.

If you are not familiar with Marc, I am sure you know his work. He is a producer and director, known for 500 Days of Summer (2009), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). We got to chat with him about his new movie coming out, Gifted.

Gifted

Gifted caught my attention because it tugged on that “fatherhood string.” I mean, what would happen to my boys if something were to happen to my wife and me? I can’t even imagine what would happen. The second thing that caught my attention – Captain America (actor Chris Evans)! But it wasn’t Captain America at all, just a regular guy who finds himself in an unexpected and challenging situation.

I don’t think any father is ready for the full scope of parenting, no matter how much they prepare. Fatherhood is just never what you think it’s going to be. The main character – Frank Adler (played by Chris Evans) – becomes a parental figure after his sister is unable to raise her daughter. I can feel for that guy. We all have difficulties, even when we start from birth!

I am also glad to see that through it all, family is the most important. I was impressed with their choice of Mary (played by Mckenna Grace). Marc found a shooting star that magically lit up the screen with her personality. In the interview, Marc discusses their hunt for her and the difficulty in the search for the actor with just the right personality.

The actors in this movie just seemed to click. You can’t fake this kind of chemistry, and I think there are only a few people in the world that can create this kind of magic. Marc obviously has the experience to not only work with big names but bring the magic to the big screen.

I am looking forward to seeing Gifted with my wife. The full movie comes out in April and rolls out to theaters everywhere after that. In the meantime, you can check out the trailer here. Check out our Facebook Live interview here. And stayed tuned, we will do our best to bring you all the newest information as it comes!

See you at the movies!

City Dads Group and Plum Organics® teamed to support children and families in need Nov. 29 by donating, packing and distributing food in seven U.S. locations as part of our Giving Tuesday outreach efforts. Watch this video, compiled by and produced by San Francisco Dad Group member Mike Heenan, to see our fathers in action:

Plum Organics, the nation’s leading organic baby food brand, donated more than 24,000 meals (almost three tons of food!) to charitable organizations chosen by City Dads Group chapters in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and the Minneapolis/St. Paul.

In addition:

• The Charlotte Dads Group donated to the Salvation Army angel tree and partnered with Trees Charlotte to plant 300 trees at a local middle school.
• Our Las Vegas group made a large donation of clothing, toys and grooming supplies to Safe Nest, a center that helps men, women, and children who are victims of domestic crisis.
• Our Chicago dads also packed food for the Feed My Starving Children nonprofit.
• The NYC Dads Group also helped sort and bundle clothes for GOOD+ Foundation, a nonprofit group that works with a network of more than 100 community-based organizations across the country to distribute essentials to families in need.

San Diego dads: You are no longer on your own.

City Dads Group has started a new chapter of its social and support network for fathers in the southern California coastal metropolis.

The San Diego Dads Group is our 25th chapter in the United States and our fourth in California. It joins Fresno, Los Angeles and San Francisco in The Golden State.

You can find the San Diego Dads Group on these social media channels:

• Meetup (go here to join the group)
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

The timing of the addition is perfect as the sixth Dad 2.0 Summit is scheduled to be held in San Diego in February. City Dads Group has been a media partner for the annual meeting between fathers and brands.

Meet our San Diego Dads Organizer

Tim Cushanick, 31, serves at the San Diego Dads Group’s organizer. The married father of two, ages 2.5 years and 5 months, works full time for the U.S. government. He teaches shiphandling to newly commissioned naval officers. Cushanick served as surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy for nearly eight years and continues to serve in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He also writes the blog Daddy Battlefield that focuses on fatherhood and the military.

City Dads Group is a dynamic and diverse community of fathers redefining, by example, what it means to be a dad in the 21st century. Our national support network has more than 5,500 members based in and around major metropolitan U.S. cities. These include Atlanta, Boston, New York, Chicago, Dallas and Denver.

Founded in November 2008 in New York City as a way a handful of fathers could arrange playdates and outings with their children. The organization went national in 2014.

Photo: Justin in SD Calm San Diego Night via photopin (license)

The West Coast has become a little more daddly with the addition of the Fresno Dads Group to the heart of California’s Central Valley.

The Fresno chapter is the third California outpost for City Dads Group, following Los Angeles and San Francisco.

You can find the Fresno Dads Group on these social media channels:

• Meetup (go here to join the group)
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

Shane Sherman and Steven Stankivicz serve as co-organizers of the Fresno Dads Group, the 23rd outpost of City Dads Group’s national support and social network. The group started several years ago as the Fresno Area Dads on Facebook.

Sherman, 44, a father of what he says are two “awesome, rambunctious boys,” is a California credentialed physical education teacher by profession and a certified sports massage therapist by trade.

“When my wife and I moved to Fresno, I was starving for adult interaction and places to take our kids. My wife discovered Fresno Area Dads on Facebook and suggested I join, which I did. I think I was the 59th member at the time,” he said. “Eventually, I started meeting more and more dads at parks, the zoo, play places all over the place. … Our group has grown from 59 members to almost 200 in the last three years.”

Stankivicz, 28, a father of what he calls “one sassy and beautiful 2-year-old girl,” has worked in the public safety industry for nine years, first for a large metro ambulance company and now as a police officer for a small foothill community.

Taking Fresno Dads to the next level

“I felt like I was ready to take the (Facebook) group to the next level but I needed some help to best serve the fathers in my community and that is why I decided to reach out to City Dads Group,” said Stankivicz, whose wife is expecting a second child in November. “Since Shane has been so active in the group I invited him to also join me in reaching out to City Dads Group. We are honored and very excited to be a part of the CDG and look forward to what the future holds for us.”

City Dads Group is a dynamic and diverse community of fathers redefining, by example, what it means to be a dad in the 21st century. Our national support network has more than 5,000 members based in and around major metropolitan U.S. cities including New York, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Founded in November 2008 in New York City as a way a handful of fathers could arrange playdates and outings with their children, the organization went national in 2014.

There are many reasons why I love Los Angeles. Is it the access to the many movie studio lots, the celebrities that live here or frequent here, the beaches, the sun, the light or what?! These are all great reasons, but my love is much deeper than that.

I moved here because I lived in the small town suburban area of Oxnard and Camarillo in Ventura County. Very suburbia, very! I clearly was gay and knew it. I needed to move to an area where I could be ‘me’ and thrive, let loose and have no one constantly look over my shoulder. I wanted a city. I wanted the lights, the sound, the bustle and hustle of it all.

So I moved here. I worked retail, the banking financial industry and even furniture/home goods too. I covered a lot of the Los Angeles County cities. Culver City, Santa Monica, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Rancho Palos Verde and the San Fernando Valley. I also commuted to Moorpark that first year I lived here as I was still in college. Yes, that was insane in hindsight. Oh the miles I put my car. Gas was cheap then. $1.99 for premium!

Fast forward to my first husband being diagnosed with terminal cancer and being given 3 to 4 months to live. He went through a lot of treatment options and traveled to and from New York. However, I found the Gay and Lesbian Center of Hollywood to be the best resource and assistance to getting him medical treatment. He wasn’t on my insurance at the time. Everything was covered. Sadly he passed away in my arms at a hospital in Burbank.

Then my work career thrived. I was moving up the corporate ladder as a bank teller, lead teller and then supervisor and then to an Assistant Operations Manager. That is where I met my current husband. We are on our 13th year of marriage. Technically speaking our 3rd year of legal marriage since gays only won the right to marry in 2013. I participated in many rallies and marches right in West Hollywood, a city where I could fully be my gay ‘ol self. I’d let my freak flag fly sky high. What’s wrong with being confident?

My husband and I then decided to start the journey to become parents. The agency was named Southern California Foster Family and Adoption Agency, which is now Extraordinary Families. This agency is located in the heart of Los Angeles between Korea Town and Downtown Los Angeles. They offered many parenting courses and prepared us for the foster-adopt process. Then children entered my life. So close was the court that the adoption was finalized. September holds a special place in my heart and significance for our family.

I am currently a stay at home dad. I have utilized all the FREE family events and children events offered by L.A. such as The Grove LA, Century City mall, Santa Monica and more. Plus the mountain areas and beaches are so close. I live 2 miles from the beach and I frequent there a lot. Many events happen here—art, music, farmer’s markets and more. Many organizations and non-profits also add to the availability of what one can do as an adult, a family and also for date night.

The one main love of L.A. for me is that even with today’s current turmoil and strong adversity around homosexuality, I can still be who I truly am. With my recent loss of a friend in the Orlando Pulse Nightclub tragedy, this was reaffirmed because I experienced so much love and support for me as a man and a parent. The many things I’ve listed are still there and still available. I utilized those resources for the therapy I needed to get over the death of my mother and best friend of 17 years. Plus two other close friends who passed away.

L.A., Los Angeles will always be the city that I call home. It welcomed my very gay self with open arms. It still embraces me the same way I embrace it. As a parent it has more value and substance that I was blindly unaware of during my single years. Even when coupled I didn’t know the abundance and value it offered. I learned this along the way while on my parenting journeys and during my beginnings as a stay-at-home dad.

My love, my city and my home is Los Angeles. The city to me has more value than a pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow. Dorothy has found her emerald city. The place where my dreams have come true beyond my wildest dreams. Hard work and diligence pay off. I welcome you to seek it out. Find me and I can show you around. I suggest finding it on your own because only you know what you want out of it. That is how I took the journey. I started here alone. I made my way. Go and make yours.