Guys With Ties have fun for good causes

They are guys who not only wear ties to work, but feel a tie to Charlotte and want to give back.

So they call themselves Guys With Ties, 10 young professionals (they have on their Halloween ties in photo above) who put together two or three events a year to raise money for lesser-known charities.

And they have a good time doing it.

The Tie's next event is Aug. 1, their third annual "Concert for a Cause" (they're obviously good at coming up with hip names) at the uptown Alley Cat, 314 N. College St. The band Pushh from Charlotte is the opener at 8 p.m., followed by the headliner: The Sometime Favorites from Charlottesville, Va.

The cover's $10, and every dime is going to Classroom Central, the non-profit that donates supplies to CMS teachers in schools where a high percentage of students get free or reduced lunches.

"Charlotte's been good to us, and we feel a need to give back to the community in whatever way possible," said Tie member Jim Heckman, a technical consultant for a printing company. "We put a lot of work into the events, but we have fun with it."

Among the Ties are financial advisors and planners, lawyers and salesmen. Their group grew out of a Guys With Ties movement in Florida, mostly Florida State University graduates. One was Matt Timmerman, a Charlotte native who returned home and felt a need to continue what had been started in Orlando and then Jacksonville.

As it turns out, several of his Charlotte friends were searching for ways to help non-profits that fly under the radar.

Timmerman told them what they'd done in Florida and the idea took off here.

"We didn't have hundreds of thousands of dollars to throw around, but what we had to offer were connections in Charlotte's young professionals community," said Jordan Raniszeski, a Wachovia financial advisor and one of the original Charlotte Ties. "We're plugged in, and we decided to use those connections to try to do some good."

They've done quite a bit of good. They've put on a Halloween costume party the last four years, and raised $10,000 to $15,000 each party for a charity. Their goal for the Aug. 1 Concert for a Cause is $5,000 -- but they hope to raise more.

Since that kind of money goes to a smaller charity, it has a huge impact.

"It is tremendously gratifying to see what that kind of money can do for smaller charities," Raniszeski said. "It motivates you to keep going."