Seven Mile State of Mind: Making a Difference, The Impact Club Nears Goal of 100 Members to Donate to County Charities
The Impact Club presents donation to Family Promise of Cape May County.
Maybe Seven Mile Beach is like any other community when it comes to its residents’ generosity, and maybe there is something special about this place I call home. I choose to think the latter, and Stone Harbor Postmaster Gene Summers learned first-hand recently just how giving the people of Avalon and Stone Harbor are. Most everyone in Stone Harbor knows Summers. Here in the small towns of Avalon and Stone Harbor, filled with small-business owners and employees, a daily visit to the post office is common. In fact, I hardly remember a time when a trip to send a package or pick up stamps did not include a chance to catch up with a friend or neighbor, and that includes Summers and the post office staff. Seven Mile Beach’s communities are largely made up of folks who live together and work together, many with a common goal: to maintain Stone Harbor and Avalon as the charming tourist towns they have been for generations. Each of us does his part; each is a cog in the wheel.
Summers recognized this capacity for working together for a common goal and wondered if he could harness it for the purpose of effecting an even greater good. What, he thought, if he organized a giving club, one that served to organize small donations from large numbers of people to do good? He already had the platform, with dozens of community members coming through the post-office door every day, so why not give it a try? Inspired by the success of other groups like 100 Women Who Care and 100 Men Who Give a Damn, Gene began to share his vision about founding a great giving initiative in Cape May County with anyone who would listen. He would organize The Impact Club of Cape May County.
His goal was to make an immediate, direct and positive impact on the lives of our neighbors by bringing together 100 (or more) men and women in Cape May County who care about local community causes and who are committed to community service. Here’s how it works: As each member joins, he or she commits to four $100 donations per year and nominates up to two organizations as beneficiaries for donations. Three are picked from a hat for each upcoming meeting, and they are advised to prepare a presentation. When the group meets for about an hour on a quarterly basis, members jointly select a local registered charity or nonprofit organization. Every member writes a $100 check to the selected organization. That charity gets a big stack of checks from all of the members as well as many new contacts and a lot of free awareness. Because the meetings are held just four times a year, the total commitment from each member is four hours and $400 a year. Summers explains that the benefit of giving as a group is the impact (hence the name); a $100 donation might not make a big difference, but a $10,000 donation sure does.
“Technically, we don’t exist,” Sum-mers says. “We aren’t a charity, and we have no bank account. Our volunteers simply organize the meetings where our members gather to support local charities. What’s great is that 100 percent of the donations go to the local charities, and a great networking happy hour before each meeting helps connect like-minded professionals. There is literally no downside to this movement.”
The community responded. Spa Avalon’s Carly Caprioni and Fuze Italian’s Steve Cozzi were among the first supporters, and the movement continued to grow. Finally, last January, after months of networking and organizing, Gene and 36 initial members saw his vision come to life at the club’s first meeting. Early to jump on board were Tahdg and Jason Campbell, owners of Slack Tide Brewing Company in Clermont. Not only did the Campbells become members, but they also offered their brewery as the site for the first event. After listening to three fine presentations, majority vote awarded the club’s initial $3,700 in donations to Family Promise of Cape May County, a program that helps people in the county who are experiencing homelessness.
By April, the club grew to 50 members, and Summers was offered space at Avalon’s ICONA Golden Inn for the event. This second meeting made an even greater impact, with a $5,000 donation to the selected organization, Beacon Animal Rescue. Summers was pleased with this success but remained focused on his goal of enlisting at least 100 members. By July, he saw the number grow to 62 when the club met at a local winery to choose Upper Township Challenger Sports, a recreation program that adapts sports and social events for people with special needs, as recipient of $6,200.
With a final 2017 gathering being planned for October, The Impact Club of Cape May County stands 28 members away from the 100-member goal. He’s confident it will happen. With folks willing to give from all over the county, Summers is grateful for the early support from the generous members of the Avalon and Stone Harbor community and feels certain they will continue to be a crucial part of the club’s success.
If you want to know more about The Impact Club of Cape May County, visit the website at theimpact.club, email Summers at TheImpactClubCapeMay@gmail.com, follow The Impact Club of Cape May County on Facebook or just chat with Summers during your next visit to Stone Harbor’s post office.
