To provide a safe, secure, FREE place for dads to find support and encouragement from other dads and to help them to be better men, parents and community leaders.

No one should have to pay a fee to make a friend, so we offer free membership to any father within the community who wishes to join. Members gain camaraderie and support through an online forum that is available 24 hours a day and events around the area where dads can meet face-to-face and develop real friendships that can last a lifetime.

We believe that, working together, fathers can change the world - one family, one neighborhood, one community at a time. WilmingtonDads is a connecting force, helping us each to make a difference in our own lives, in our families and in the places we call home.

WilmingtonDads.com was founded by Scott Dowell in 2008. His wife is a member of sister-site WilmingtonMommies and encouraged him to attend a "Dad Get Together" to meet some new friends. The event was a great success and Scott found many dads who were interested in a more permanent way to connect and plan family-friendly events and took the initiative to open WilmingtonDads.com.

We chat online in a private forum - discussing everything from Little League to the worst temper tantrums and all that lies between - and get together regularly at member-driven events around town. Whether it's a late night commiseration on a crying baby (there are 4 am posts to prove it) or a Dad's Night Out, WilmingtonDads provides what our members need, when and how they need it.

But WilmingtonDads is more than just a community of dads. It's dads in and for the community. Our members work full time, stay home full time, work part time, represent many races, are expecting for the first time, are adoptive dads, were adopted themselves, recently moved to the area, have lived here all our lives, have twins, are happy with one, are single dads, are searching out schools and have watched their kids graduate. In other words, we are a reflection of fathers in the real world. And we help out our neighbors as much as ourselves through organized fundraisers and other charity events - specifically those focused on providing for fathers and their children.