NEENAH (NBC 26) — Neenah-based nonprofit Jake's Network of Hope is focused on their mission of providing necessities to underprivileged families, schools, and other nonprofits.
The staff includes only five full-time members and relies on about 8,000 hours of volunteer time a year, according to Jake's Director of Development, Jenn Harper.
“Do what you love, and you never work a day in your life," Harper said. "And that is true here at Jake's.”
Harper said she loves how rewarding her job can be. The people she helps every single day are a constant motivation to continue in her line of work.
Jake's Network of Hope started as Jake's Diapers 10 years ago. Inspired by a trip to Peru, the organization's founders learned about families reusing disposable diapers or not diapering their children at all. So, when they came back to Little Chute, they started a global cloth diaper bank.
And since its inception, Jake's has evolved and expanded into assistance for more than just diaper needs.
"Nonprofits and schools can come shopping for pennies on the dollar, really helping them stretch their budget further so that they can increase their impact," Harper explained.
Jake's provides toys, hygiene products, even camping equipment for a variety of organizations.
"We are a big fan here at Jake's of individuals getting the dignity that they deserve and feeling worthy," Harper said.
But in April, this small but mighty nonprofit encountered a major financial setback when they set out to do something creative and unusual to raise money.
“I knew that we wanted to have a fundraiser that was a little bit different than every other fundraiser that you see," Harper said. “One of my old co-workers is an ex professional wrestler, and he was like, ‘Hey... I know a guy. Like, are you interested?’ And I was like, ‘yes. Yes, we are.’”
The nonprofit decided to put on a wrestling event fundraiser hosted by Lawrence University, called "Hits for Hope."
They booked names like Billy Gunn, Vampiro, Totonka, Brian Pillman Jr., and Jacob Fatu.
But when the day came for the wrestlers to show up, one of them backed out.
“Jacob called and said that there was a family emergency. We gave him the benefit of the doubt. At Jake's, we are 100% about family and I said, ‘if you can't make it, that's fine,’” Harper said.
All she asked was that her nonprofit be reimbursed for the money spent booking him, which came to a total of $2,633.
She said $1,030 was pre-paid for Fatu's appearance, but they'd also spent $548 on a hotel stay for him, $657 on an initial flight, $348 on a flight change at his request, and $50 on 8x10 posters that were printed for him to autograph at the event.
“We rescheduled the flight that he missed originally, and about an hour after that flight took off, we were made aware from him that he wasn't coming. After that, he ghosted us, he ghosted the production team that puts together the wrestling show, and he ghosted the person that booked him for us," Harper said.
Despite the treatment the nonprofit received from the professional wrestler, Harper said she and the staff at Jake's initially planned to keep quiet about the whole ordeal — until they saw posts on social media from other organizations who had similar stories to share about Fatu.
When Pro Wrestling KING in South Bend, Indiana said Fatu had taken their money and stopped responding to calls for an event on June 3, Harper knew it was time to spread the word.
"That's why at Jake's we decided that we wanted to speak up alongside of these organizations, so that this didn't continue to happen to other people," she said.
And despite the period of disbelief that something like this could happen, some good has come from it all.
Harper said a major name from Fatu's wrestling family heard about the incident and reached out to offer an appearance at Jake's next wrestling fundraiser in 2024.
Harper isn't sharing the name of the individual until the announcement of next year's full lineup, but she did say that the person doesn't wrestle anymore — and that they have a very recognizable name in the wrestling world.
“It was kind of really out of the blue to get a phone call from somebody of that magnitude to say, ‘hey, what can we do? How can we help?’” Harper said.
NBC 26 reached out to Jacob Fatu at the numbers provided by organizations who had been in contact with him before they were ghosted.
Fatu has not responded to requests for comment on the situation at this time.
To learn more about Jake's Network of Hope, including a list of the more than 270 organizations they currently help, you can visit their website.
