Sometimes a great idea can pop-up out of thin air; or drop-in during a conversation.
While kidding around with a friend back in July 2011, Kevin Cummings of Flower Mound made an off-the-cuff remark about an idea he had for starting a new men’s ministry project at Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church.
Cummings had realized that some members of the community– widows, single moms and military wives whose husbands are deployed– need simple “handyman” help with such issues as fixing a leaky faucet, hanging a ceiling fan or repairing a fence post; just general “stuff.”
Fast forward to 2012, Cummings and approximately 60 men had joined the new ministry, Honey Dudes. The name of the ministry is a play on words taken from “honey-do’s,” the also-known-as list of “men’s” chores a wife assigns to her husband.
The bible verse that inspired Cummings to form Honey Dudes is James 1:27, which talks about looking after orphans and widows in their distress.
“We do indoor or outside work, whatever helps,” he said. “Whatever two men can knock-out in 60- to 90-minutes; replace a sprinkler head, change lightbulbs or smoke-alarm batteries, hang a picture, get Christmas decorations out of the attic … just to name a few. We try to focus on the little repairs and chores around the house that take about an hour or less.”
During the past seven years, Cummings said every now and then the Honey Dudes will get a call that’s a bit outside their level (or liability limit) of expertise.
“We send two men, sometimes accompanied by one of our male youths, to take care of the ‘honey-do,’” explained Cummings, adding that they are not set up to re-plumb or re-wire an entire house.
“We showed up at the home of a lady who weighed about 95-pounds– and was about that age– who wanted help to jack-up her house from the foundation,” he said laughing. “I explained that such a job would need an engineer and help with the utilities and … just a bit more than the Honey Dudes can handle.”
In addition to individuals, the Honey Dudes have helped such groups as CCA and Kyle’s House, as well as providing access to water to a community, which is an urban “island” without water or sewer hook-ups, in southern Oak Cliff.
“We were supposed to be anonymous, but that didn’t happen,” said Cummings, adding that the Honey Dudes do not accept payment for the work they do. “I get to see the look in the guys’ eyes when they finish the job. When we are done, there is closure; we finished the job ‘fighting the good fight.’”
To help fund the Honey Dudes’ fight, an annual golf fundraiser was started in 2011.
In addition to funding scholarships directly and through LISD, the proceeds also help seed other churches starting their own Honey Dudes Missions.
“After a couple of years, we realized there were about seven churches we’d help fund, including one in Greer, South Carolina, which was supporting digging community water wells in Africa, through the Water for the World nonprofit,” said Cummings. “Now we’re hearing that there’s a ground movement growing for additional Honey Dudes groups being formed from the churches we’d seeded.”
This year, the Honey Dudes Golf Fundraiser is on Sunday, March 4 at Bridlewood Golf Club, 4000 W. Windsor Drive in Flower Mound.
“The burgers will start being served to golfers– and all the event volunteers– at noon,” said Cummings, adding that there’s a 144-golfer limit. “The four-player scramble with a shotgun start starts at 1 p.m.”
The entry fee is $100 per golfer. Contact Pete Campbell by texting him at 214-906-7679, or email at: [email protected].
There will be prizes for a hole-in-one; first- and second-place teams, the longest drive, closest-to-the-pin, plus drawings for merchandise and a silent auction with high-end items held at the Bridlewood Club House.
Sponsors are still being accepted by contacting Pete Campbell as listed above.
Men who’d like to volunteer for Honey Dudes, or belong to a church that would like to start its own group, can contact Cummings at: [email protected], or call 972-897-5177.
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