Father’s Club Leaders Come Together for Organization-Wide Summit

By Dan Holdhusen, Grandfather of three graduates and one currently enrolled in Blue Valley High School

More than thirty dads from throughout the Kansas City metro joined in a Chapter Chair Summit recently. The event marked the first-of-its-kind for leaders – both current and incoming in their positions – of the various Father’s Club chapters in the expanding footprint in the Father’s Club vision of “…creating simple ways for dads to be intentional with their KIDS, with other DADS and within their COMMUNITY.”

After a hearty meal, chapter leaders were welcomed and thanked by Mike Davisson, Executive Director, who led the group in reporting on a host of topics to update leaders on the latest programmatic, partnership efforts, best practices, upcoming events, and myriads of other subjects of interest to the enthusiastic attendees.

Father’s Club Board Member Share

Speakers also included Board members Todd Milner, Randy Bratton, and Brad Holdhusen.

Todd spoke about the ongoing effort that he leads to educate and inform dads in the area of Mental Health and Wellness. He explained that the schedule for upcoming workshops will be distributed sometime in August in advance of the upcoming school year. He explained briefly about the content of the course and indicated that over one hundred dads attended the sessions in the first half of this year and reviews were outstanding. One participant’s reaction: “Knowing what is offered at these workshops will, simply and literally, save lives!”

Bratton, who has been a main organizer of the Father’s Club’s largest single fundraiser during the year, the Mission Cup Golf Tourney, discussed plans for the upcoming events later this summer and fall. He explained that, for the first year, two dates are offered – one on Sept. 6^th and the second on Aug. 29^th, played on two separate courses. He encouraged attendees to promote the event, spread the word, and participate by organizing a team to participate.

Brad Holdhusen discussed the importance of having an “onboarding” process for the incoming chapter leaders, as well as stressed the importance of having dad leaders who lead by example to inspire other fathers in their chapters to be active participants in promoting and conducting events. He also encouraged leaders to begin planning events and their activities and recruitment of new members and volunteers for the upcoming school year now, before the school term begins in the fall.

Chapter Leader Testimonials

Although reports and overviews from Mike and the Father’s Club Board members were helpful and enlightening, the greatest part of the Chapter Chair Summit came from the experiences and insights of those who led Chapters during the 2023-2024 school year just concluded.

Example of these testimonials included:

• The incredible sense of support and community that came from the dads and the Father’s Club organization after a tragic incident that occurred during the school year involving the death of family members. The comfort offered by the intentional action led by Father’s Club members contributed to healing and a feeling of security for affected students and faculty that were deeply affected by the tragedy;
• The success and associated benefits of one chapter’s efforts to sell concessions for home football games that not only contributed to a closeness within and among the entire community of students, staff, parents, and family members, but also enabled the chapter to provide some amazing Father’s Club-sponsored events during the school year. A capstone of this Chapter’s efforts resulted in awarding $7,500 in scholarships to worthy students at the conclusion of the year;
• The alignment of partnerships with various local vendors in achieving very favorable prices (or, in some cases, donated goodies) to conduct dozens of Father’s Club’s signature events called “Fist Bumps for Food” (aka FB4F) during the school year by a growing number of chapters. A number of Summit-attendee dads could not say enough about how the thousands of kids who received a snack and a fist bump (or hug) from a dad before their classes had contributed to huge smiles and “thank yous” from the kids, not to mention the hearts of gratitude created on the part of the fathers.

Take-Aways from the Summit

The coming together of Father’s Club Chapter Chairs and other leaders accumulated a number of benefits. Everyone came away from the gathering with a sense of increased gratitude for the mission and activities of Father’s Club; but also, a renewed sense of appreciation of how the mission is playing out in the metro for the great good of KIDS, DADS, and the COMMUNITY.

Some high-level take-aways from the time together included:

• Relationships are key to a successful Chapter. Especially between Chapter leadership, superintendents, principals, and teachers;
• Be innovative with ideas on how to promote Father’s Club activities and events, but do not be afraid to copy another Chapter’s successful experiences;
• The Father’s Club has particular leadership expectations and ethical standards across the organization; but each Chapter is unique and encouraged to plan and conduct events that will “fit” for their individual Chapter;
• Investing a few dollars and, most importantly, time, into the life of a student pays exceptionally large and long-lasting rewards. For not only the KIDS, but also for DADS and the COMMUNITY.

Davisson concluded the meeting by thanking all attendees and pledged to support the leaders as they lead by example in their respective chapters and communities.