Big Kids Helping Little Kids

Water Buffalo Club Allocates $3 Million to Kids in Need

Nikka and her six children were spending Thanksgiving in a shelter for victims of domestic violence, her five-month-old daughter struggling with heart complications, when she experienced the kindness of strangers.

“We have been through a lot this year… It’s hard starting all over, but when I look at my kids I know we will make it,” she wrote in a letter to the men who provided her family with a hot Thanksgiving dinner. “It’s a blessing to have people that care.”

Nikka and her family were the beneficiaries of a helping hand from the Water Buffalo Club, a group of the Westside’s most successful businessmen – including CEOs, accountants, attorneys and investment bankers from Pacific Palisades – who are dedicated to providing time and financial support to kids in need in the Los Angeles community.

Since its formation in 1989, the WBC has seen more than 275 members rotate through to support 180 different organizations to the tune of $3 million in support.

In addition to membership fees paid by each of the 75 men from the Westside, annual fundraising events largely support the grants that benefit smaller children’s charities that often fly under the radar  – but membership is about much more than writing a check.

“There are so many great charity organizations in Los Angeles, but we’re asked to invest our time – and that’s much harder than giving away money,” said Highlands resident Andy Bird. “When you make that kind of direct contribution, it becomes personal. There’s a real bond with these kids and real relationships form. We’re all just big kids helping little kids.”

Each year, the club brings hundreds of kids from inner city schools to Griffith Park Observatory for a day of learning, lunch and fun. WBC also celebrates “Christmas in June” where members, joined by their own families and volunteers, take 200 kids for a day of fun at the Santa Monica Pier.

“These kids live right here in our city, just a few miles away, and they’ve never seen the ocean before,” said Palisadian Rob Deutschman, one of the club’s founders. “Being able to connect with these kids and remind them that there are people who really care is so powerful. It’s everything.”

The club has also donated everything from busses and vans to computers, copiers and books, to school and art supplies, musical instruments and a food trailer to organizations that are vetted by a charity selection committee and selected to receive the grant.

“As much help as the club gives and as much it does, I have learned the most from listening to the organizations that pitch us, asking for support,” said Palisadian Geoff Grant, a former member who joined the club a decade ago at the invitation of a close friend. “It’s about the big picture; helping these small organizations sustain themselves and being able to help in so many different ways.”

Every Thanksgiving, club members gather at John Mack Elementary school to assemble and distribute holiday food baskets to families in need. In December the WBC hosts a holiday movie for the children they serve, complete with hot-buttered popcorn and the works. For many of the members, it’s special events like these where their families are invited to join the efforts. Many members expressed using the events as teachable moments for their own children as well.

“We always drive around the neighborhoods we work in so my kids can see something different from home. Our main concern raising a family in the Palisades was that we could end up raising our kids in an ivory tower, never exposed to life outside in a broader world,” Grant said. “The club is about more than giving back. We are also creating the next generation.”

So while membership is officially extended only to men, you won’t find any “No Girls Allowed” signs on the clubhouse door. Since their foundation 25 years ago, the club’s special events have expanded to include wives, children and other willing volunteers.

High school senior David Deutschman, son of one the club’s founders, said seeing his father’s dedication to the club and being able to join him for events like delivering the holiday food baskets for Thanksgiving have impacted him in a powerful way.

“I’ve grown up being part of this, since I was 5 or 6, and I’ve seen how much my dad cares, how much compassion he has for others. It has really shaped my values,” David Deutschman said. “I know how lucky I am to have what I do and I’ve seen how with just a little effort, we’re capable of making a big difference.”