Through DaVita Way of Giving, the local branch of DaVita Kidney Care donated $950 to ForeverDads during a board meeting Thursday afternoon.

DaVita Way of Giving started in 2011 as a way for the company to give back to the communities its serving through local non-profit organizations. Since it’s beginning eight years ago, DaVita has donated over $13 million to local non-profits across 11 different countries.

DaVita is a Fortune 200 company with nearly 3,000 facilities in 11 different countries and almost 75,000 employees.

“This is just a way for DaVita to give back,” Michele Van Wey, a facility administrator at DaVita in Zanesville, said. “ForeverDads was chosen because I was aware of the program through my husband and we just have a chance to give back. So, we had a few applicants that had come in and we chose ForeverDads just because it’s something that I really believe in.”

Van Wey added that her husband would take their baby to a the new fathers class offered by ForeverDads to volunteer and help other men who may be new dads.

As a non-profit organization that receives government funding, ForeverDads has restrictions on the funds that are appropriated for the organization.

Through donations, the organization is able to do things like occasionally purchase pizza to feed the men during a night program or buy a small gas card for a father that is struggling to make ends meet, Burl Lemon, Executive Director of ForeverDads, said.

“The beauty of receiving funds at ForeverDads is that every dollar we receive is used to increase our connection with these men as fathers,” Lemon said. “It gives us the chance to have non-designated dollars to be able to use for things that we couldn’t otherwise help the fathers (with).”

Oftentimes, the things fathers may need help with are as simple as a $10 gas card.

As the end of the month nears, Lemon said ForeverDads has helped and impacted nearly 150 men just this years. Over his 12 years with the organization, he said well over 3,500 men have been impacted by ForeverDads and the number is increasing.

“We’re really trying to change the culture of our community,” Lemon said. “This year, because of our grant from the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood, it requires that we serve a minimum of 200 men. We’re at January and we’ve already served 143.”

To learn more about the opportunities and programs ForeverDads offers, visit the organization’s website here.