Community service at the heart of EBCoM

For more than 30 years, the East Bay Circle of Men has shown up with our hands, hearts, and skills to serve our communities across Oakland and the greater East Bay. Community service is how we live our purpose as men who care about the greater good, turning values into action and brotherhood into visible impact.

From holiday food and gift drives, to supporting youth and families, to helping each other with projects at home, we keep saying “yes” to service—year after year. The photos you see on this page are just a glimpse of what happens when men commit to making a difference together.

30+ years of showing up

Since the early 1990s, community service has been woven into the DNA of our circle. Men before us laid a powerful foundation through projects like school clean‑ups, support for recovery programs, food drives, and hands‑on work with local organizations.

Today, we carry that legacy forward with ongoing partnerships and new projects that respond to the needs of our communities. What has never changed is the spirit: ordinary men stepping up, again and again, to do extraordinary things together.

Holiday drives: food, gifts, and dignity

For over three decades, our men have organized and supported turkey and holiday food drives in partnership with East Bay nonprofits that know how to get food to the people who need it most. In recent years, that work has included a strong relationship with the East Oakland Boxing Association, whose annual Thanksgiving drive provides meals to hundreds of local families.

We help source, organize, and move turkeys and groceries so that parents can bring a full, dignified holiday meal to their tables. More recently, we’ve added a Christmas gift drive, gathering toys and presents so kids wake up feeling remembered, valued, and seen.

Partnering with mission‑driven organizations

We believe in supporting organizations that are creating long‑term change in our region. In recent years, our circle has:

• Supported the REAP Climate Center, a regenerative education and climate resilience nonprofit in Alameda, including helping secure a $15,000 grant to expand their ecological education and job‑pathway programs.
• Shown up for the East Bay Center for the Blind, which provides education, recreation, and community for blind and visually impaired neighbors in the East Bay.
• Continued relationships with local schools, youth programs, recovery centers, and family shelters that have deep roots in our communities.

Sometimes our support looks like fundraising; sometimes it is simply men putting on work gloves and doing what needs to be done.

Helping hands, close to home

Service is also personal. Within the Circle, men regularly gather to help one another with projects that might otherwise be too expensive, too lonely, or just too overwhelming to tackle alone.[1] Over the years, that’s looked like:

• A team of men installing a garage canopy in a single day—a project that would have required hired help or months of delay on one man’s own.
• Garden and yard projects that transform a house into a home and give a man back his energy and pride in his space.
• Construction and repair projects, from building a greenhouse for a member to creating a dance floor for one of our fall gatherings.
• Creative projects like kids’ chalk art events that bring families together and invite the next generation into the spirit of service and play.

When we show up for each other this way, we are practicing the same skills and generosity we bring to the wider community.

Why it matters

Community service is where a man’s purpose meets the world. It is the living expression of a man who cares, who is willing to get his hands dirty, lift something heavy, listen deeply, and offer his time and talent with no fanfare required.

In the East Bay Circle of Men, we see every act of service—big or small—as part of a larger story: men choosing to be a force for good in their families, neighborhoods, and cities. Together, we create experiences that change lives on both sides of the giving.

Join us in making a difference

If you feel the pull to serve, you are in the right place. Whether your gift is organizing, fundraising, swinging a hammer, loading boxes, mentoring youth, or simply showing up with a willing heart, there is a place for you in this work.

Come stand shoulder‑to‑shoulder with men who are committed to something larger than themselves. Together, we will keep writing this 30‑plus‑year story of purpose, courage, and community—one project, one family, and one man at a time.