Army of Normal Folks to meet for first time

Port Washington’s newest service group is meeting for the first time Sunday, and it’s one of six forming across the country.

Ozaukee’s Army of Normal folks will meet from 3 to 4 p.m. at Tello’s Grille and Cafe March 8, with Joe Herr, founder and program director of Logan’s Heart and Smiles, as the guest speaker.

John Norman of Port is launching the new club, which has its root in a national podcast by Bill Courtney.

The club is built on the idea that the country’s problems can’t be solved by government but by “normal folks just doing what we can,” Norman said.

He said the Army of Normal Folks is open to anyone in Ozaukee County who wants to make a difference, no matter how much or how little time they have to offer.

“We’re going to dedicate ourselves to finding any opportunity to use our skill sets and passions to help people live a good life,” he said. “We don’t just want to give money away. This is dedicated to helping people so they feel like a whole person.”

Norman said, the Army of Normal Folks will be different than many groups.

“There’s no expectation, no president, no rules and no dues,” he said. “It’s made for people to participate at whatever level they can, whether they can contribute an hour a month or an hour a year.”

There are numerous other service clubs in the county, Norman admitted, adding that the Army of Normal Folks is intended to complement them.

“You really cannot have too many service clubs,” he said.

He pointed to studies that only 33% of Americans are contributing to their community in the way they want.

The Army of Normal Folks will help by matching people with organizations that match their interests, he said, noting many people don’t know about the existing clubs or how to reach them.

“We will help them find a nonprofit organization that needs their skills,” he said.

Army of Normal Folks will also hold giving circles, where people can pool their contributions to make them more meaningful, he said, and have days when they meet to help others.

“It can be something as big as a Habitat (for Humanity) build or as little as visiting your senior neighbor,” he said. “That’s how we’re going to succeed. We want to augment the other service clubs and nonprofit groups in our county.”

That, he said, will help provide a sense of community, something many people lost during the pandemic.”

Norman said Stand Together, a philanthropic group, is offering challenge grants to the six inaugural Army of Normal Folks clubs. In addition to the Ozaukee County chapter, they are in Atlanta, Dutchess County, N.Y., Memphis, Tenn., Oxford, Miss., and Wichita, Kan.

Stand Together will provide $3,000 when a club’s giving circle has 25 members, $12,000 when it reaches 100 members and $25,000 to the circle that recruits the most members in its first 60 days.

Norman said about 25 people have signed up for the inaugural meeting of Army of Normal Folks, and he’s hoping more will attend as well.

“The idea is to start small and grow it from there,” he said.

“There’s an army of people out there that want to help their fellow man but don’t know how to do it. We can help.”