You can help low-income fathers receive essential gear to help them care for their children this Giving Tuesday through a donation to one of NYC Dads Group’s longtime charitable partners, GOOD+ Foundation.

GOOD+ Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit that collects and distributes children’s clothes and other items for families in need, is collecting monetary donations today that will be used to pay for “Dad Toolkits.” These toolkits include critical items such as diapers, diaper wipes, an infant front carrier, a car seat, a stroller, a high chair and safety gate. The organization will donate the dad toolkits to low-income fathers enrolled in its grantee programs.

Bank of America has agreed to match every dollar, up to $50,000 in total, donated to this Giving Tuesday GOOD+ fundraiser.

++ Donate to purchase Dad Toolkits for fathers in need ++

GOOD+ Foundation has been especially focused in recent years on assisting fathers in need and getting them more active and involved with their families. As stated on its website, “When fathers get the assistance they need, children have a better chance of success, mothers have the support of a responsible co-parent and communities are strengthened as a whole.”

GOOD+ Foundation, formerly known as Baby Buggy, was founded in 2001 by Jessica Seinfeld shortly after the birth of her first child to comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Since then, it has donated almost $42 million in children’s items to a national network of more than 125 antipoverty programs. In 2017, 90 cents of every dollar donated went directly back into GOOD+ Foundation programs, its website states.

City / NYC Dads Group co-founders Matt Schneider and Lance Somerfeld are members of GOOD+ Foundation’s Fatherhood Leadership Council.

What do you get when you add together the NYC Dads Group, the GOOD+ Foundation, and Plum Organics?

Food and clothing delivered to the underprivileged for the holidays, starting on Giving Tuesday.

Plum Organics, the nation’s leading organic baby food brand, delivered pallets of food — most weighing over 400 pounds, to various cities around the country with chapters of City Dads Group. Here in New York, the Plum Organic products were delivered to the GOOD+ Foundation, a nonprofit group that works with a network of more than 100 community-based organizations throughout the United States to distribute essentials to families in need. GOOD+ Foundation added care packages of children’s clothing to the outgoing food deliveries.

Enter the NYC Dads Group. Gotham’s fathers sorted the clothing by gender and size so it would be ready to go out to needy children in the community.

If you’re going to have enough clothes to make a difference, then you are going to need a lot of clothes, and a veritable mountain awaited our dad.

The dads weren’t daunted in the least. They immediately set to work, determined to have everything ready to go for Giving Tuesday.

As all parents know, getting time away from your family isn’t the easiest thing to do, but the opportunity to help Plum Organics and the GOOD+ Foundation assist children and families in need got a huge turnout.

When asked why they were doing this, our volunteers gave enthusiastic answers. “I’m here to help the community,” said NYC Dads Group member Jeff Chew.

“I look forward to this every year,” said Larry Interrante, a longtime group member from Queens. “How can you not want to help out children living in your community?”

The dads ended up having quite a lot of fun that night. When you’re doing good, and doing it along side some good friends, well – surprise – you get into a good mood.

“We’re proud to be working with Plum Organics, and helping the GOOD+ Foundation get some much needed clothing and food to the underprivileged in our community,” said NYC and City Dads Group co-founder Lance Somerfeld. “Hanging with a bunch of great guys just adds to all of it!”

It was amazing how quickly our dads tore through their work. It seemed to be all done in mere moments. Inspired dads are efficient dads.

It turned out to be an entertaining and fulfilling evening. You’d be surprised how much fun you can have sorting children’s clothes.

Few experiences are as rewarding as helping children who need it. In many ways, that’s exactly what being a fathers should be about.

You don’t inspire people with your words, you inspire them with your actions. If you’re a father, you’re a role model, whether you like it or not. Your job is to set a good example. Full stop.

Thank you, Plum Organics, for helping us be good examples.

(All photos by Chad R. MacDonald)

NYC Dads Group needs a dozen good fathers from its membership to help with its Giving Tuesday 2017 outreach work.

Volunteers will be needed Monday night, Nov. 27, to help sort and bundle more than 400 pounds of food donated by Plum Organics®, the nation’s leading organic baby food brand. The next day the food will be distributed by 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.

* Sign up to help us with Giving Tuesday 2017 *

NYC Dads is one of 12 City Dads Group chapters across the United States that Plum Organics is working with this year to help nourish children and assist families in need on Nov. 28, Giving Tuesday, an international day of helping others that follows Thanksgiving. Last year for Giving Tuesday Plum Organics donated more than 24,000 meals to charitable organizations chosen by seven City Dads Group chapters.

“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.”

This will be fourth consecutive year NYC Dads Group has participated in Giving Tuesday activities. In years past, it has collected, sorted and bundled clothes or food for the GOOD+ and its predecessor, Baby Buggy.

Giving Tuesday started in 2012, in part as a response to the commercialism of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping events. The event started as a collaboration between New York’s 92nd Street Y, a longtime NYC Dads Group partner, and the United Nations Foundation. Tens of thousands of organizations worldwide now participate in the annual day.

NYC Dads Group members and others who are not able to participate 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.

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

Dads have stories big and small. Most are not spectacular, and a lot of them are really messy and complicated. But dads have meaningful stories to tell.

So this past Wednesday two dozen dads came to the Bronx Zoo to share the idea of #DadStories.

#DadStories are mostly about small things, simple things, but important things all the same.

That’s why the NYC Dads Group believes in #DadStories beyond a marketing campaign. “It’s the small moments that are important for parents. It’s not the destination, it’s the journey,” said Lance Somerfeld, the NYC Dads Group co-founder.

The #DadStories concept was hatched by Baby Bjorn, and they co-sponsored the launch event at the Bronx Zoo along with the GOOD+ Foundation. Dads are storytellers, too, and it was time to highlight their parenting stories.

Overall, it was a spectacular event at the world-renowned Bronx Zoo, for an awesome cause, and surrounded by some amazing company.

So, when the NYC Dads Group was invited to the #DadStories event, they were thrilled to show up for it.

Of course, having interactive attractions at the event didn’t hurt either. Baby Bjorn set up their #DadStories photobooth that resulted in adorable, amusing, and unpredictable shenanigans.

After all, everyone loves photo booths.

Seriously. Evvverrryone loves photo booths!

The NYC Dads Group started off mostly as a way for fathers to meet up, make friends with other fathers, and even network, so ample time at the Bronx Zoo was made for that.

But now it was time for the best part, navigating through the Bronx Zoo. The Dads strapped on their new Baby Bjorn Carrier One Spring Collection that are sleek and comfy, and made their way through some captivating animal exhibits.

Can we just say how kids and animals in the same picture is just gold? Because, it’s just visual gold.  Each photo captures memorable #DadStories.

GOLD!

And then, giraffes got involved! That guaranteed that while maybe the majority of #DadStories are small, with the help of the Bronx Zoo, these stories would be pretty big indeed!

All in all, a very awesome day for the NYC Dads Group. Big thanks to Baby Bjorn for creating this winter adventure at the Bronx Zoo, and we look forward to sharing our #DadStories in the days ahead.

See you there at one of our future Meetup events!

Disclosure: NYC Dads Group has an ongoing partnership with Baby Bjorn and were compensated for hosting this baby-wearing experience.  

NYC Dads Group members are needed Nov. 29 to help sort and bundle 400 pounds of food donated by Plum Organics®, the nation’s leading organic baby food brand, that will help feed local families in need this holiday season.

The effort is part of #GivingTuesday, a global day of outreach. #GivingTuesday is dedicated to helping others meant to kick-off the holiday season and inspire people to collaborate in improving their local communities and to give back in impactful ways to the charities and causes.

The benefactor of our manual labor and Plum Organics generosity will be 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.

* Sign up to help us on #GivingTuesday *

The NYC donation is one of seven Plum Organics has made as part of a #GivingTuesday partnership with our parent, City Dads Group. In all, Plum Organics will donate more than 24,000 meals to charitable organizations chosen by seven City Dads Groups across the country.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Plum Organics to help families in need across the United States this holiday season,” said Matt Schneider, co-founder of City Dads Group. “#GivingTuesday has become a staple of our annual calendar, and we appreciate the opportunity to give back to these important local organizations.”

#GivingTuesday started in 2012, in part as a response to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping events. It originated as a collaboration between New York’s 92nd Street Y, a longtime NYC Dads Group partner, and the United Nations Foundation. Tens of thousands of organizations worldwide annually participate in the day.

This will be third consecutive year NYC Dads Group has participated in #GivingTuesday activities. In years past, it has collected, sorted and bundled clothes for GOOD+ predecessor, Baby Buggy.

NYC 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.

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

The NYC Dads Group again will help other needy families in our area keep their children warm and looking good this holiday by participating tomorrow on #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving back to others.

For the second year, several of our members will spend an evening vetting, sorting and bundling children’s clothing donated through Baby Buggy, a nonprofit group that assists the 500,000 New York City families living in poverty.

#GivingTuesday was founded in 2012 by New York’s 92nd Street Y (another NYC Dads Group partner over the years) in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. The effort has engaged more than 10,000 organizations worldwide.

It was a special night last night for the NYC Dads Group– the culmination of our first NYC Dads Care project, and graduation for 19 of the dedicated participants of the Bronx Fatherhood Program (BFP), an innovative fathering initiative serving non-custodial fathers ages 14-21. These Dads completed the program designed to help fathers understand the importance of their role and to to embrace fatherhood and the responsibilities that accompany it. The comprehensive course addresses everything from newborn care and child development, to parent-child relationship development, and partner conflict resolution. The program also supports each participant with career development tools, legal services, and financial education. BFP aims to help each father to improve his parenting competency, to increase his engagement in his child’s life, to improve communication with his co-parent, to implement positive parenting skills, and to contribute consistently to his child’s well-being– emotionally, financially, and materially.

We are at a point in the year that deserves reflection about what we are thankful for.  Below, Gilbert R. touches on how fortunate he is as he shares a guest blog post about his experience of volunteering his time with Baby Buggy:

It was mid-October on a Saturday morning. I was rushing to make it to the New York City Dads meet up event at Baby Buggy on West 37th St. I arrived just a few minutes late. As I made my way to the 7th floor, I was welcomed by Ms. Elizabeth Smith, Volunteer Program Manager. I asked her to quickly instruct me on what needs to be done & I promised not to socialize (at least no that much) for the next 2 hours. I wanted to provide them (Baby Buggy) with as much energy, focus, & passion while volunteering my time.

With well over 500,000 children living in poverty in New York City, Baby Buggy’s strategy differs from other Non-Profit group’s such as Goodwill & Salvation Army. Where you can only hope those valued donations are being received by the people that require them…Baby Buggy works with a network of over 50 social service organizations within the 5 boroughs of New York City. For the past 10 years, Baby Buggy’s donations have gone directly to the children & families who need it most.

On this day, 11 members of The NYC Dads Group extend ourselves & assist with certain tasks. Task #1 was fulfilling NEED-List orders for a number of organizations. These lists required specific items & goods for their clients. They varied from clothing, shoes, diapers, children’s books, baby household goods, etc. Other tasks included cleaning & sterilizing donated items, and another was reorganizing the many donated books by appropriate age level. The community of dads worked well together & their efficiency showed.

As each task was completed, we were looking to do more. It was a very productive 2 hours for both Baby Buggy & The NYC Dad’s Group.
I personally know how touched I was during my first visit last year to the Baby Buggy headquarters. My daughter Sage was only 5-6 months old. Loving the feeling I felt from being a newly minted Dad! The amazing feeling that overwhelmed me every time I looked at my daughter. My wife & I are fortunate enough to have good health & provide for our own.

Therefore, it is so easy to overlook the many who are not as fortunate as we are. So along with volunteering time for this cause, I make it a point to donate our little one’s clothing & items whenever possible. As I know it will bring a smile to the families’ who receive them. Which brings me to the close of our Baby Buggy visit-  we are shown a video explaining Baby buggy’s Mission to help alleviate the stress of poverty & prevent crisis. Even with a room full of testosterone, you just had to look around at the others & see the impact felt from the video. All it requires is giving your time or goods to donate for a wonderful cause.

I look forward to partnering with Baby Buggy again in the near future as well as looking for other opportunities to connect & partner our active community of fathers with more community outreach endeavors.  Stay tuned!