Dove Men+Care Celebrates Real Dads

Our friends at Dove Men+Care are once again showing dads some love this Father’s Day. Check out this new video featuring moments that men are finding out that they are going to be dads:

According to the press release for the campaign, Dove Men+Care has conducted global research on men, and found that  82% of men believe having a child changes the way they think about what it means to be a man. They also highlight the fact that they “want to ensure that Dad’s care is highly visible — that fathers are shown for the deeply caring men they are, and that all dads grow stronger as a result.” Cheers to that!

Dove Men+Care is also sponsoring a new site on Medium called To All Dads— on ongoing series of open letters from dads to dads. I had the opportunity to write a letter to expecting dads called Jump In, The Water is Water. Here are some of the other letters that have been posted so far:

• City Dads Group Co-Founder Lance Somerfeld writes How to Fail at Planning
• Friends and The Handsome Father Co-Founders Andy Miller and Brian Stephens each wrote a letter. Andy writes I’m Paying Attention, What Raising a Son with ADHD Has Taught Me. Brian writes To My 20-Year-Old Self, Advice from a Gay Dad Who Never Knew He’d Get Here

Definitely bookmark the To All Dads page– more letters will be posted in the coming days.

Finally, Dove Men+Care also welcomed some City Dads Group members and other local dads to participate in NBA Fantasy Camps in LA and San Francisco.

Dads and kids were coached by NBA legend Robert Horry and former Clippers/Nets coach Don Casey. L.A. Dads Group Co-Organizer Zach Rosenberg had this to say about the day:

Dove Men+Care knows how to put together an event. They’re great at finding a guest speaker who really has a story to tell. In this case, Basketball legend Robert Horry – a man who’s won championships with three teams – but also has a deep narrative of being a son and a father. Before we got to know Horry as a father, we got to know him as a coach, as he put us to work on the court. He worked with the dads, who were in awe of meeting a legend, and he worked with the kids, who didn’t know why their dads kept saying ‘THAT’S Robert Horry!’ After playing ball, we settled down in a meeting room and heard Horry talk about his life growing up with a military dad and his trials in losing one of his children to a rare disease. Horry has always been one of my favorite Los Angeles Lakers, so hearing him speak candidly about family was a truly great experience. My son walked out of the camp enjoying basketball more, and with, I think, a slightly deeper understanding of the love between fathers and their children. It’s also given us something new to do at the park – now that my son can say ‘one of the old Lakers taught me how to shoot!’

LA Dads Group Co-Organizer Trevor Mulligan added, they went over some basketball skills and showed how to improve not only our game on the court but also our game in life. It’s all about your base, create a good base and from there everything else will become easier!”

We are blown away by the way that Dove Men+Care is helping to reframe the conversation about fatherhood, and grateful that we continue to have the opportunity to contribute to their work in a variety of different ways. Many thanks to the whole Dove Men+Care team!