Today we’d like to introduce you to John Resman.
Hi John, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself and how you got started.
The year was 2020….a year we all can say we wish would move on as fast as possible. But a few good people wanted to invest their time and energy to make this world a better place and decided to start a children’s charity here in our beloved home of Minneapolis St. Paul, otherwise known as the Twin Cities.
Our friends and college buddies started M4K Omaha about 12 years ago and they have raised a crazy amount of money over those 12 years, and last year they raised over $800,000 in 30 days. M4K America is the national chapter and in 2020 M4K Chapters across the country raised over $1,800,000 for children’s charities.
How this works. Each year, we select a Children’s Charity Partner based on applications we receive.
For 30 days we gather up a bunch of guys, who we refer to as “Growers,” who grow mustaches and raise money from their friends, family and work network. We have a number of fun events throughout the 30 days that begins with a Clean Shave party and ends with our Stache Bash (Gala), a mustache-themed costume party during which we crown the winner of the coveted “Sweetest Stache” and hand out other awards that are cherished by the recipients. So it’s all pretty simple: mustache, charity, and competition infused with meaningless pageantry. Who wouldn’t spare four weeks of their life for that!
In 2021 we partnered with The DinoMights, an inner city youth hockey program for at-risk youth that provides physical, social, academic and spiritual excellence. We raised over $96,000. In 2022, we just finished our campaign and we raised over $108,000 for Firefighters For Healing and their CampRED initiative. Camp RED gives 6 to 16-year-olds the opportunity to live beyond their scars and to be kids again by providing camp opportunities in cross lake. Our hope is that time at Camp RED will help campers and parents/guardians/siblings Realize Every Dream for a better tomorrow!
At the end of the day, M4K Twin Cities goals are simple. Raise money for youth charities in the Twin Cities area, and have fun while doing it. We strive to give back to this community, create opportunities where there is a void, and invest in our youth to ensure they feel connected to the future.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Kicking this whole thing off during 2021 when there was still a pandemic happening was clearly a challenge, but we figured why not just go. Our initial thinking is that we would raise 20-30K….and we blew that away as things began to open up. We would love to reach down into the younger millennial age groups as most of our participants are slightly older…and this whole thing is about NOT taking yourself too seriously and having a little fun with each other…..and still doing something cool!
That said, people have been awesome and we want to continue to GROW our charity and have more fun and impact more kids of the twin cities. Our motto is LET’S GROW THIS!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m 25 years executive in the Med Tech space and I currently work for Medtronic. Leveraging creativity I would say is one of my strengths as well as bringing people together for a common goal. You gotta have some fun in life and treat people the right way.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I’m from the South Side of Chicago and my wife brought me north after having a couple of young kids to get closer to her family. I’ve loved it here in the Twin Cities. I was a relatively shy kid and was undersized, but loved sports of all kinds…..especially touch football in the streets.
Now I’ve become a huge pickleball rube….fastest growing sport in the US. Super fun!
Contact Info:
- Website: m4ktc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/m4ktwincities/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/M4KTwinCities
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/M4KTwinCities
