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8/4/09: BIG Gen Con Booth Update! Your Help Needed
The Gen Con game convention is next week, and Gamers For Humanity will be there. If you don't know what Gen Con is, well...it's only the largest gaming convention in the world, and also a very generous supporter of Gamers For Humanity. You can find out more about the convention here: www.gencon.com. You can also see a map of our location in the Exhibit Hall (booth 227).
Call For Help #1: Cards
Gamers For Humanity will have a booth in the Exhibitors' Hall again this year, and we need your help. Specifically, we need your old cards. Any kind of cards will do: old CCGs you don't play anymore, packs of promo cards you got in a swag bag somewhere, all of those extra commons and uncommons you have piled in that shoebox, old packs of regular playing cards...whatever you've got, we can use them, just so long as you don't want them back, and don't much care if they get cut to pieces and/or glued together. :) You can stop by our booth to hand them over once the Con starts, or contact us via email this week, and we can likely come get them from you in town before the Con starts next week.
Call For Help #2: Booth Staffer
We have a big booth this year, a 20x20 island, and we've got a lot going on there. What we need are a few more volunteers to help staff the booth. Now, usually all we can offer for volunteers is our pleasant company, a cool GfH t-shirt at a discount, and a warm happy feeling of doing some good. But...this year we do have ONE remaining exhibitor badge we can give to someone who is willing to volunteer a significant amount of time with us. What's a significant amount of time? The Exhibit Hall is open 10-6 Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and 10-4 Sunday, for a total of 30 hours. If someone is willing to commit to 10 hours of booth work, we can hook that person up with a FREE Exhibitor Badge. (If you've already purchased a badge, you will be able to get your original badge refunded, although the refund may not process until after the convention.)
10 hours of work for a free badge...and not just a free badge, a free Exhibitor badge. That comes with added coolness, that feeling of being able to walk into the Exhibit Hall early, before the general masses are let in ;)
Let us know if you're interested. We have ONE badge left.
Our Booth At Gen Con
So you know that we'll have a booth in the Exhibitors' Hall, but what will it contain?
1) A structure built for us by the Indianapolis chapter of Habitat For Humanity. If you're looking for volunteer work you can do where you live, Habitat is probably an option for most of you. We'll have information about working with them for anyone who's interested.
2) Game Drive! We are once again hosting a game drive to benefit the Indianapolis Ronald McDonald House, Wheeler Mission Ministries of Indianapolis, and DAMAR Services. We collected a lot of good games and toys last year, and we'd love to do even better this year. Bring by your old games, new games, toys, or books, and they will find their way into the hands of people who will love them. If you've got a lot of games to donate, get in touch with us and we can help you get them to the booth.
3) House Building Competition! Open for anyone who cares to try their hand at it--sit down, grab a stack of cards, some glue, and some scissors, and build yourself a house of cards. The houses will be up for public voting the following day, with prizes awarded to the winning house each day. Voting will be logged via a 'Silver Coin Vote'. A donation of one 'silver' coin--nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars--gives you one vote on one house. Vote as many times as you like, one vote per coin. (And bring by your old and unused cards to help us out :)
4) Letter Writing Campaign. Stop by our booth and write a quick letter of support for a) patients of a local Childrens' Hospital, b) soldiers deployed overseas, or both! We will take care of the mailing, you just have to write it. We can also accept donations of small games for the soldiers, which we will ship with the letters. We'll have suggestions for suitable games at the booth, so come by and talk to us.
5) Information about our other projects. We will have information and pictures from our previous work trips and game drives, and advance information about upcoming projects, including next March's work trip to New Orleans.
6) We will also have T-shirts available again this year, including some of last year's design and some with a new design, and we will always welcome free-will donations to help our causes. We can only do what we do through the generosity of people and businesses like you.
Gamers For Humanity is incorporated in the State of Iowa, and is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit with the IRS. All of that means that your donations are tax-deductible. Our staff is also entirely volunteer, so every penny donated is put to work.
Please let us know if you have any questions, and we'll see you at Gen Con!
8/3/09: Bishop Ella Update
Hello Friends and Supporters.
I first want to apologize for the delay in sending out this update. We at Gamers For Humanity have had a busy summer preparing for the Gen Con convention and our fundraising efforts there, and I personally have had a very busy summer working on a degree. This update should have gone out a while ago. At least, however, it's good news :)
Thanks to your donations, we were able to send a check for $1000 to Bishop Ella and the Lift Thy Name Up Higher food pantry! This money, along with extra volunteer assistance from people on-site in New Orleans, has made it possible for them to not only repair their walls, but to have the floors repaired, the walls painted, and their electricity turned back on. We're still waiting for 'after' pictures, but the work that has been done is tremendous.
At this time last year, the city was informing Bishop Ella that they would shut the pantry down if they didn't get the house in a livable condition. They had no alarm system to prevent theft of the food being stored there, and no air conditioning for workers moving pallets full of boxes in the middle of a New Orleans summer. Your donations and the work that got done came just in time, particularly given that two other pantries in the area have shut down since GfH was in New Orleans in March, and many of the people who relied on those pantries now rely on Lift Thy Name Up Higher. The staff's workload has more than doubled.
We have been in regular touch with Bishop Ella, and she sends her love, thanks, and blessings to everyone who helped us help her.
As I mentioned, we are still awaiting 'after' pictures, but below are some of the 'before' pictures, to remind you of what needed to be done. Take a look at these, and imaging the place with a real floor, no holes in the walls, paint, and lights :) Pic 1, Pic 2, Pic 3, Pic 4, Pic 5, Pic 6, Pic 7.
Thank you all so much for your help.
2/15/09 - Game Drive at Who's Yer Con!
Gamers for Humanity is pleased to announce that they will be sponsoring a new and gently used game drive at
Who's Yer Con!
Who's Yer Con is a free gaming convention hosted by Who's Yer Gamers, a
nonprofit organization designed to promote hobby gaming in and around the state of Indiana. A variety of games will be
available for attendees to play including board games, card games, miniatures games and role playing games.
At WYC, we will be collecting board games and other gaming related items to help a local Indy organization,
DAMAR Services. DAMAR Services builds better futures for children and adults facing
life's greatest developmental and behavioral challenges. We are excited about this opportunity to help the residents at
DAMAR Services, and we hope you will donation to this worthwhile cause.
Look for our donation box and display at WYC!
2/7/09 - News Update for NOLA and Call For Help
Hello again friends, gamers, and friends of gamers.
I promised the other day that there would be some good news on the way regarding our NOLA trip, and here it is:
The Brighton, IA chapter of Kids Against Hunger has agreed to
donate over 11,000 pre-packaged meals for us to bring to New Orleans for distribution. Kids Against Hunger is an
international food relief organization, and they send tens of millions of meals around the globe annually. I
recently met the director of the Brighton chapter, and when I explained our trip to New Orleans, he immediately offered
to send 55 boxes of these meals along with us.
On the other end, Rachel at The Phoenix of New Orleans put me in touch with Dale from
Second Harvest, who will be able to distribute this food to the folks who need it.
So this is great news, a wonderful opportunity.
But this is where we might need help--we still need to transport the food down to New Orleans.
There are several options we are investigating, including finding a trucking company with a truck heading from Iowa
to New Orleans who would be willing to throw this pallet of food into their trailer for the trip. This would make our
job a lot easier, but of course we have no guarantee that we can find something like this. Another possibility is renting
a truck and driving the food down ourselves. U-Haul International has agreed to donate $300 towards renting a truck from
them. While this is very generous, that would still leave about $700 for the one-way truck rental from Iowa to New Orleans.
Another possibility is renting a trailer from U-Haul (possibly as low as $150 after the $300 discount), but for that we
would need a vehicle capable of towing the 3600 combined pounds of trailer and food, and surviving the trip from Iowa to
NOLA and back (which, sad to say, disqualifies the old pickup in my driveway).
So there's a good chance that we could use your help to get this food to New Orleans. There are still plenty of people
in need of basics like housing and decent food, and 'eating what you can find' leads to dangerous malnourishment. These
meals from Kids Against Hunger have been specifically created by food scientists to combat malnourishment, to help people
start digesting properly, and to get them necessary vitamins. They are a good, good thing.
I will keep you all updated regarding this situation, but I'd ask that you look into whether or not you can help us
with this specific goal. If we can't find alternative means, our target is $700 for the U-Haul truck.
Thank you all for continuing to think about us, and for the supportive emails we receive. Please let us know if
there is anything we can do for you, and if you have any suggestions about, well, anything at all.
1/6/09 - Time to think seriously about New Orleans
Hello friends!
The generally recognized 'Holiday Season' is over, but for those of you enjoying holidays that fall
outside of that season, keep enjoying. (The Chinese New Year is January 26th. :)
However, whether your Lang Syne is auld or not, it's time to start thinking seriously about our trip
to New Orleans in March (15th - 21st).
We have 25 spots available, and half of those are filled. Depending on your perspective, this news
is viewed differently. Some of you might be saying "Oh nuts! Half the spots filled already, I'd better
sign up!" We at Gamers For Humanity, however, tend to say "Oh man...two and a half months to go and still
half the spots open!" That's the difference between organizers and volunteers, though :)
So if you haven't signed up yet, let me convince you that this is the trip for you.
1) It's affordable. Seriously, it is. If you're frugal, you can get by for the week on $300, $350.
Housing is $18/person/night, and we'll have a fridge and a kitchen, so food only needs to be as expensive as
what you can get at the grocery store. Not only will you be attending with gamers--who will be bringing
games to play--but there's also plenty of free or cheap things to do in New Orleans for entertainment.
2) We will use donations to help people afford the trip. Last year we had enough donations for every
volunteer to receive $50 towards their housing.
3) It's FUN. Not only your free time in New Orleans, but the WORK is fun. You don't need experience
in construction or physical labor, you won't be given jobs too big for you to handle, and you'll be working
alongside people just like you. And you'll be learning skills, too. Never put up drywall before? Painted?
Reinforced a deck? Used a saw? There'll be lots of opportunities for that sort of thing. And don't forget:
New Orleans is a great city, one of those places everyone should go before they die. Who knows...you might
even meet Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie, who now call New Orleans home. :)
4) It will HELP people. Over three years ago, an *entire city* sunk. Thousands of people were
stuck in the Superdome as the ceiling was falling down around them. People were forced to leave their
possessions and pets behind as they fled. People lost everything. Houses, heirlooms, cars, photographs,
and often loved ones. And it was the hardest on the lower classes. It was the hardest on the people who
were barely affording a house in the first place. These are the people who don't have the money to rebuild,
who don't have the means to buy a new place.
And although that was over *three years ago*, the problem is still very real right now. New Orleans is a
city, an entire city, still trying to get back on its feet. And YOU can help. Those of you in the Midwest
saw this summer what flooding can do--some of you experienced it first-hand. THAT is what we are going to
New Orleans to fix. That means...
5) You will feel good during and afterwards. You'll be able to see progress, right in front of you.
You'll be able to help put a person, with a face and a name, into their own house. You'll be able to help
someone get a wheelchair ramp that they need. You'll be able to clean up a public park so kids can play there
again. You will leave New Orleans knowing that you have made a difference.
We encourage you to consider coming with us. The more of you who come along, the more we can accomplish
while we're there. Go see our pictures from last year's trip, and get
more info about this year's trip. You can also email Tom at tom-at-gamersforhumanity.org.
If you've ever wondered how you can help, how you can make a difference in the world around you...this is a good
way to start.
12/23/08 - Holiday Game Drive A Success
Hello again.
I apologize for doubling up on the newsletter mailings on the same day, but I wanted to get this report out
before Christmas is upon us. The 08 Holiday Game Drive in the Iowa City area finished up yesterday, and it was
a resounding success!
Yesterday morning, I was able to deliver over 300 pounds of food to the Johnson County (Iowa) Crisis Center's
Food Bank. The Crisis Center is a multi-faceted organization, providing support ranging from counseling services and
assistance to the homeless to food and clothing for underprivileged families (including a community garden tended by
volunteers in the summer...cool!). My only complaint about this part of the drive was that we weren't able to get
donation boxes in more grocery stores...that's something we'll take on next year. But 300 pounds of food from one
grocery store location is a great result.
Crisis Center workers sorting our donations into their Food Bank
The other side of the Game Drive was even more successful: the games! We were able to donate, at a conservative
estimate of value, over $1000 worth of games and toys to the Iowa City Ronald McDonald House. Over $1000 worth of
games...in a recession. That's amazing. I have nothing but deep thanks to give to everyone who helped us reach that
level of giving, and I know I can pass that thanks on from the RMH staff. It was great to see the donations roll in
over the weeks, and really surprising to tally up the end results.
Carson and Kyle of the RMH, next to the World's Biggest Christmas Stocking
So what's all in that pile of gaming goodness, you ask? I'm glad you brought that up:
(deep breath)
Jenga
Apples to Apples (a great game)
Apples to Apples KIDS
Spiderman Memory
Cranium Family Edition
Littlest Pet Shop
Kerplunk!
Sorry
Scrabble
Battleship
Monopoly
Operation
Royal Rescue (this game is seriously cool...I wouldn't mind a copy myself. Who cares if it's "5 and up"?)
Maple Story starter packs and boosters
Magic The Gathering starter packs and boosters
Blue Dragon starters and boosters
Star Wars Celebration refridgerator magnets (cool)
Clue
Candyland (two copies)
A photomosaic jigsaw puzzle (butterfly imagery)
Taboo
Walkie Talkies
Elmo's Fishing For Letters
A stuffed monkey
A stuffed dragon! (see below)
Rummikub
Chutes & Ladders (two copies)
Set (a family game of perception)
Club Secretz
A lone GI Joe Dreadnok
K'nex 400 piece tub
A stuffed deer-ish sort of animal...cute
Dominos
Monopoly Card Game
Clue Card Game (two copies)
Killer Bunnies! (cool)
Harry Potter 3D jigsaw puzzle (the Weasley kids)
A Stomp Rocket
2 pack of Alphabet Frame Trays
Showdown Yahtzee
Checkers
Bingo
Rummy Royal
Chinese Checkers
Clout Fantasy (two starter packs and some boosters)
Street Magic kit
World Wise geography card game
Family Fluxx (two copies, another cool game)
High School Musical pencil bag
PlayArt set
Aang's Battle Staff
Odd (a Code Lyoko action figure)
Stuffed girl with backpack
Kari Mitchell (a Barbie competitor)
Snakes on a Plane keychain (okay...also cool)
Toy Story Crayons
Prince Aidan (one of Barbie's hunks)
Barbie Sky Diamond Kite
Batman ION learning disc
Navia Dratp booster
Dandy Candy boardgame
Giant stuffed fish
Cars (the movie) pen/pencil/activity set
A tin of Tweety Bird...something. Candy? Stationary? Walnuts? We are unsure.
Whew. There were a few other items, and the collection boxes are staying up until tomorrow, so a few more
items may come in. But that's a pretty great list.
Oh...and here's the stuffed dragon that was donated...I love it:
And so we at Gamers For Humanity thank all of you who supported us in the Holiday Game Drive. Thanks to
our partners in collection: Critical Hit Games, The Hobby Corner, Terrapin Coffee, and HyVee Foods. Thanks
to everyone who sent or dropped off money, games, food, and notes of support. Thanks to KWKB (channel 20),
and the Iowa City Press Citizen (Rob Daniel) for the articles and event listings. And thanks to the Ronald
McDonald House and the Crisis Center for working with us.
We at Gamers For Humanity hope you all have a safe and joyful holiday season--we know that you helped us
bring joy to a lot of people this year.
12/23/08 - Project Iowa Family Night
Hi everyone. I hope the holiday season is finding you safe and well.
As I mentioned last time, I know the economy is hurting a number of you right now, and I want everyone to know
that Gamers For Humanity is not just here to ask you for your help: we're here to help you as well, if you need it,
in whatever way we can. This includes not only providing assistance in volunteering with our own work (helping you
afford the New Orleans trip, for instance), but also assistance if you find that you are someone who needs our help
as an organization--presents for your kids, flood recovery, paying for your heat for the winter, etc. Let us know.
On to the news.
On Saturday, December 13th, Project Iowa held a family night for the people they have been helping recover from
this summer's flooding. They provided food, activities, and further recovery information, and they asked Gamers For
Humanity to provide some games that the families could take home. Thanks to some very generous donations from you,
our wonderful volunteers and donors, we were able to step up to the plate and donate a couple of dozen games for the cause.
That's about half of our donated stack of games on the table in the foreground, great classic family stuff. Right
behind the games are some of the kids engaging in one of the nightly activities: sandbag painting. :) The ziplock
bags at the very bottom of the picture are part of a huge supply of personal hygiene care packages that had been
provided--toothpaste, shampoo, fingernail clippers, etc.
Project Iowa also provided one of the coolest disaster recovery resources I've ever seen:
Here's our protagonist, Bingo the Dog, busily filling sandbags:
Overall, the whole event was a big success, and I know the games were very popular. Project Iowa is doing a
good thing, just letting these families know that they have not been forgotten by those who are trying to help them.
Hopefully, we'll be able to work with them again in the future.
(The girl in pink had her eye on Operation from the moment it came out of the box...at least, that's what her
"Oooohhhh!" led me to believe.)
Thank you all again for your support and generosity, and thanks to Project Iowa for their ongoing work. Keep
your eyes open for an imminent report on the 08 Holiday Game Drive, which finished up yesterday.
12/5/08 - Games, Games, We Need Games!
Happy Approaching Holidays everyone.
Welcome to a number of new names in our newsletter list. Hopefully this finds everyone doing well--I know the
economy has hit several of you pretty hard lately. We just have a few notes today.
-Games Needed
-T-shirts for Sale
-New Orleans Update
Games Needed
Our Holiday Game Drive is in full swing, so it's time to look in your closets, find those games you haven't
played in years. It's time to take a look on the shelves of your local game store or Walmart, find those new games
for $5, $10. Pack 'em up and ship them to us, and we'll deliver them right to the Ronald McDonald House in time for
the holidays. Or, if you don't have the time to go shopping, you can make a donation, and we'll go pick something
up for you.
We also need a few games to help some friends of ours.
Project Recovery Iowa (pdf link), a program through
the Iowa Department of Human Services, is a disaster mental health program provding counseling for those affected
by the widespread flooding this past summer. They are hosting a half-year flood anniversary even in Iowa City on
the 13th--a party, of sorts, to help these people know that they have not been forgotten, and to provide them
with continued resources for the winter months. Gamers For Humanity has been asked to provide some door prizes
for this event, family games to help bring some light into the lives of people who have lost so much. We can't
divert games donated for the Game Drive, but we can certainly accept donations specifically for this event.
You can mail donated items to:
Gamers For Humanity
15311 320th Ave
Keota, IA 52248
And you can paypal donations to: donations-at-gamersforhumanity.org
T-Shirts
We got a shipment of Gamers For Humanity t-shirts in
recently, so the numbers and sizes have been updated. In particular, we now have bigger sizes available, up to 3XL,
and more shirts in the popular Kelly Green color. And the best news: all shirts are on sale for the
holidays, just $15.
Your child's/spouse's/mother's/roommate's eyes will light up with glee when she comes downstairs Christmas
morning to find a Gamers For Humanity t-shirt rolled up in her stocking. Imagine the look on your son's face
when you present him with a blue and white Gamers For Humanity t-shirt on one of the eight days of Hannukah.
Or, heck, treat yourself to one, and wear it with pride. You deserve it.
New Orleans
Finally, remember that our trip to New Orleans is fast approaching (March 15-21). We've got 10 spots filled
already, so if you're thinking about coming, let us know soon. If you're worried about affording the trip, we will
help you with that as much as we can through donations and fundraisers. It's going to be a LOT of fun, and we're going
to be able to do a lot of good work. AND, lest you forget, we have a huge room at our disposal for gaming in the
evenings. Been missing Gen Con SoCal? Come game with us while we help a city full of great people.
10/12/08 - New Orleans Work Trip Signup Now Open!
We are happy to announce that we are now signing up volunteers for our March 2009 work trip to New Orleans. Come join us!
9/30/08 - Holiday Game Drive, T-Shirts, and More
We've got a lot to tell you about this month:
- We need you to take part in our Holiday Game Drive.
- We have t-shirts! A $20 donation gets you a cool GfH shirt to wear with pride.
- October is almost here, and with October will come the official start of signup for our NOLA trip in March!
Let me first take just a moment to say this: as our economy reaches ever increasing lows, we need to remember that these troubles are even harder on those who are lower on the economic ladder and those who are ill. As it becomes more and more difficult for us to find the money and time to do things for ourselves, we should keep in mind that our efforts are needed even more now. You don't have to donate to us. You don't have to donate money at all--time is valuable as well, and there are organizations all over the place who would be happy for a few of your hours a month. You are valuable to groups like us.
Our Game Drive at Gen Con this year was an absolute success...so we want an encore.
And that's where you come in. Our Holiday Game Drive is a multi-location event. We'll be collecting games and toys at 'Hot Spots' all around the country, and donating them all to charities that are local for each collection point. Where are the Hot Spots? You need to tell us.
We need you to help us out by volunteering to organize a Holiday Game Drive Hot Spot in your area. Here's how it works:
- Find a local business willing to serve as the collection point: your local game store, church, coffee shop, etc.
- Find a charity or organization who would like the donated games and toys: the local Ronald McDonald House, childrens' hospital, women's shelter, Toys For Tots, etc.
- If possible, ask other local businesses to donate swag for the people who donate games: movie passes, tournament entry at the game shop, coupons and gift certificates, store credit, etc.
- Place an ad in the local paper, and post flyers.
- Coordinate with the Hot Spot and selected charity for pickup of the donated items.
That's it. If it sounds like a daunting task, keep in mind a few things. First, it's all local. You don't have to leave your area to help, a lot of the work can be done over the phone, and the donated games and toys will all go to help local people. Second, Gamers For Humanity will help you in whatever way we can. If you need help making phone calls or finding charities, help is an email away. Third, as I discovered when setting up the drive at Gen Con, most people are more than willing to help with a cause like this. Getting up the nerve to ask is the hardest part :)
Each Hot Spot should begin collecting no later than November 15th, and generally no earlier than November 1st.
We want to make this a HUGE event, so please consider volunteering. I think you'll find that the time spent isn't so hard to come up with, and is more than worth while. If you'd like to volunteer for the Holiday Game Drive, contact Lisa at lisa-at-gamersforhumanity.org (replace the 'at' with an '@').
GfH T-Shirts
We've got stylish and cool Gamers For Humanity t-shirts! The artwork on this shirt was designed originally for our NOLA trip last April, and we carried it over through the summer to Gen Con. Available in either blue or green, these shirts can be had for a $20 donation to Gamers For Humanity. We rely entirely on donations to fund things like our Game Drives, and to help our volunteers cover some of the costs of housing and transportation during our work trips. And thanks to Offworld Designs, we've got something cool to give back to our donors.
Check out the colors and sizes we currently have on hand, and let us know if we need to order a different size/color for you. Contact Tom at tom-at-gamersforhumanity.org if you're interested.
NOLA Sign-Up Fast Approaching
October is almost here, and when it gets here, we'll be reserving our spots to work in New Orleans in March. Our current plans are to volunteer with Habitat For Humanity and The Phoenix of New Orleans, and we'll be opening spots in groups of 25. This is a great opportunity to do some good work, and spend a week in a great city. Keep your eyes open for the official sign-up announcement, coming soon...
8/24/08 - Gen Con 2008 After Action Report
We've been back from Gen Con 08 long enough to start getting all of our ducks in a huddle, so here's our first report on all the action at our booth this year.
Special Thanks
First, we want to sincerely thank all of our sponsors who made our first year in the Exhibit Hall successful. Foremost on the list is Gen Con LLC. Aside from putting on another great Con, they, as a company and as individuals, have been incredibly supportive of us and our efforts since the beginning, and we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are now without their help. Hopefully you saw our shirts popping up around the Con, and we want to thank Offworld Designs for those. It was nice to be able to point people to them, only an aisle away. We have Nametag, Inc to thank for the badge ribbons, and I know for a fact people were noticing those all weekend. The people from the George Fern Company were also great, but more about them later.
We can also put our booth volunteers in this category. Thank you to the dozen or so generous people who gave us some of their time during the Con, manning the booth and passing out information. Hopefully we gave you enough information to make your jobs tolerable :) You are all definately appreciated.
The Game Drive
Down to the details: our first annual Gen Con Game Drive was a great success! We were taking in donations for the drive so rapidly on Sunday that we had little time to keep count, but a few of us managed to get a rough count after the hall closed and before the games were picked up. In the end, you and other people at Gen Con donated over 100 board games, 250-300 card games, over 100 books (novels and RPG material), and 4 large bags of other games and toys. As we were sharing our booth with The Chainmaille Wench, we were extremely grateful for the help that the George Fern Company gave us in storing the donations. They are the people who run the 'back of the show' in the Exhibitor Hall, and their help was instrumental.
Jay, Shauna, and Tom helped load the games on Sunday, and we filled up the back of the van that Aaron from the Indy Ronald McDonald House brought. There was more in the back seats as well, but these pictures give you a good idea. And that was only part of it. We also stuffed the trunk and back seat of Chris-Michael's car from the Wheeler Mission Ministries. (Thanks to Aaron from the RMH for the pictures.)
It was like Christmas morning every time someone approached the booth with donations, and I know that the kids and families who the donations are destined for will feel likewise. Thank you all so much for your generosity. This is something that we will definately be doing again.
Other Booth News
Aside from the Game Drive, we were also fortunate to receive enough donated funds to enable us to continue on our path towards our 501(c)3 status. That paperwork should be completed next month, and if the IRS isn't terribly slow, we should have that 501(c)3 by the end of the year. Once we do, all donations we receive will be tax-deductible--and this is retroactive to all donations we have received in the past. If you got a receipt from us at the booth, or if you donated prior to Gen Con, we will contact you when your donation is duductible. Our 501(c)3 status will enable us to do some serious fundraising, so this was a great milestone as well.
Even more important than that, however, are all of the names of interested people we have added to our newsletter mailing list. We are now counting in the hundreds, including a lot of checked boxes of people interested in our yearly New Orleans work trip. (We'll be sending out information about that trip in the near future, so stay tuned.)
Our prize drawing at the booth was also a success. It featured donations from Profantasy Software (makers of Campaign Cartographer, which every GM must have), Abstract Nova, Mindstorm Labs (and honestly, you must check out their Alpha Omega game if you like RPGs...Ennie Award winning artwork), The Chainmaille Wench (who is also a GfH member), Uniforms of Antiquity, Imperial Weapons, Angelwear Creations, VooDoo Baby, and Buca di Beppo restaurant. Thanks to these companies, we were able give something back to a few of the donors from the weekend. Plus, their wares on display brought more than a few people over to talk to us, so we give them all a big thanks as well. (All that great stuff to look at also caused me to make a few purchases myself, but that's between me and my poor credit cards.)
In the end, it was a very successful week--Tuesday working with Habitat For Humanity, donations and meeting people at our booth, and plans for the future of Gamers For Humanity. We are planning a NOLA trip, a coordinated holiday season multi-city game drive, and our presence at Gen Con next year. Thank you all for your support and interest. We'll have more pictures from the weekend up on the website soon, and more news on the way.
Thank you all.
6/4/08 - Gen Con Game Drive - Your Support Needed - Our work day with the Indianapolis chapter of Habitat For Humanity is scheduled, and our list of volunteers is growing (email us or come to the Gen Con Community Forums at www.gencon.com to sign up and join us). That leaves us with our other project for the convention: our Gamers For Humanity Game Drive! We're collecting new and gently used games at our booth in the Exhibitors' Hall at Gen Con (booth #2328). What are we doing with those games, you ask? We're donating them. To whom, you ask? We're happy to announce that there are three recipients of the bounty of our Game Drive: the Wheeler Mission Ministry, the Peyton Manning Childrens' Hospital, and the Indianapolis Ronald McDonald House.
Three organizations means that we definately need your help--we can't very well show up at a Childrens' Hospital with only a deck of cards and a bag of old pogs. We need your donations. If you'll be at the convention, it's easy enough--just swing by any of the dozens and dozens of other booths, buy a game, come by our booth, and donate it. Easy. You'll get a shiny ribbon showing that you are an excellent individual, and you'll have helped someone by bringing a game into their life. That's the whole point. If you won't be at the convention, send some money with a friend who's going, or donate it to us, indicate 'Game Drive' with your donation, and we'll pick up a game and donate it in your name. We have the ability to help a lot of people here.
As always, sincere thanks to everyone for the support you've already shown us.
5/27/08 - Important Habitat-Indy Fundraising Update - I'm excited to announce that our fundraising effort for our project with Habitat For Humanity's Indianapolis chapter has come to an end...just not in the way we expected. As it turns out, Habitat-Indy would be able to guarantee us a day on a build site (house) with enough funding. They just wouldn't be able to offer us August 12th, the day we have available. Their operating schedule prevents them from offering us a work day on a house regardless of how much they receive in donations. House builds are carefully scheduled, and that Tuesday just won't work.
So why am I excited by this news? Because a) Habitat-Indy will have other work for us to do, and b) this means that we will be able to volunteer without having to raise $5000. We're not sure exactly what we'll be doing yet--we may be working in their woodshop precutting lumber and working on other necessary preliminaries for building a house, we may be working in their Home Store. The exact nature of the work will be confirmed in the next week or so.
But, in short, our work day with Habitat-Indy on Tuesday, August 12th, has been confirmed.
And that means that we can start building our list of attending members for this project. If you'll be in Indianapolis on August 12th and you want to work, let me know (contact 'at' gamersforhumanity.org). We have room for twenty people, so get your name in as soon as you make a decision. Once we have twenty people, we can try to look for more work for you to do, but we can't guarantee that we'll have anything for you to do that day. (Current members: don't assume that I know you're coming--email me to let me know that you'll be there.)
This is a great opportunity to help a great organization. Habitat for Humanity operates entirely from donated funds, and they work relentlessly to put people like you and me into new homes every day. You can be a part of that. It's rewarding work, for a good cause. We'll see you in Indy!
5/24/08 - Sponsor and Donation Update - We're happy to announce that we have another sponsor on-board! The excellent folks at Nametag.com are donating the badge ribbons that we will be handing out at Gen Con this year. Donors to our Gen Con Game Drive (collecting games for charities) will receive a cool badge ribbon, and be the envy of all their friends. So that's great news, and we are very grateful to the Nametag.com staff.
We also want to welcome a number of new people to our newsletter, and focus on how to think about fund-raising, and ways that you can help. Calling businesses in the Indianapolis area is pretty simple, and while it may not be high-percentage, it can work. Potential businesses to contact might be construction supply companies, restaurants, service organizations (Rotary, Kiwanis, lodges, etc), or gaming/book stores. If you want to help in this way, email us (contact -at- gamersforhumanity.org) for a list of companies.
But, there's another way to think about fund-raising: individuals. For us normal people with jobs and houses and dogs and kids, $5000 seems a bit daunting. But consider that 50 donations of $100 each would get us where we want to be, even with no support from the business sector.
What can we offer donors in return? Publicity. We will give them publicity on our website, on our t-shirts, and at our booth at Gen Con, and in whatever other ways we can think of. As the donations for this project will be made to Habitat for Humanity, they will also be tax deductible.
There's a lot that can be done to help with the fund-raising, and much of it doesn't take a lot of time at all, even for the busiest of us :) Thank you all for the support and prayers.
5/18/08 - Gen Con Email Blast, and Flyers - Gen Con LLC sent out an email blast on Friday to all attendees and exhibitors, and Gamers For Humanity was prominently featured! Here's the text:
Have you ever considered how fortunate you are to be able to take a vacation and game for four whole days? Gamers For Humanity (www.gamersforhumanity.org) was formed with one purpose: to give gamers an opportunity to gather together and help people who are less fortunate. In their first year, with the help of Gen Con and other sponsors, they have already been to New Orleans and back, and they are looking to do more. They are planning another trip to the Big Easy next Spring and they need help! They are hoping to be able to work with Habitat for Humanity's Indianapolis chapter on August 12th, but Habitat needs donations in order to be able to provide them with the materials to do the work. Their target is $5000, donated directly from donors to Habitat. Have you or your company chosen a charitable cause this year? Do you want to go work with them? They are gamers, just like you, and together everyone can do a lot of good in the world. Please visit their website and contact them to see how you can help. If they can meet their donation goal of $5000 by the end of May, they will be able to show Habitat-Indy what gamers can do. They look forward to seeing you in Indy. You can stop by their booth in the exhibit hall to meet them.
Big thanks goes out to the Gen Con staff for continuing to support us so generously.
We also have *flyers* available for download, announcing the Indianapolis build and our fund-raising goal of $5000. Any help is appreciated--donations from individuals are great, but if you don't have the ability, so is contacting businesses in the industry and asking for their support. $5000 is a good amount of money, and we'll need a lot of help to get there.
5/5/08 - Marengo Habitat Pictures Online - The Habitat For Humanity house in Marengo, IA is going up quickly and smoothly, and we've now got some pictures online from the build. It's an ongoing project, so we'll be adding more pictures as we go. Check the Pictures page for the latest.
4/25/08 - Workers Needed in Marengo, IA - Habitat For Humanity is building a house in Marengo, IA--it's in the very early stages. The slab (foundation) has been poured, and one exterior wall has gone up. What they need right now are numbers, a large group for the upcoming week to finish putting up the rest of the walls, and to get the roof trusses put into place--a big job. Gamers For Humanity will be there on Thursday, May 1st, and on Saturday, May 3rd, with whatever numbers we can gather (at least 3 people so far). Go to the Contact page if you're interested in coming along. No experience necessary, and lunch is provided (probably morning donuts too).
4/15/08 - NOLA Trip a Success - Our trip to New Orleans was a resounding success. Pictures will be uploaded soon to the website, and the site blog is available for a narrative of the trip. We even left one member behind to continue the work. Plans are already in motion to set the dates for next year's NOLA trip, so stay tuned if you're interested in joining. There was such a great response from the students at Cornell College (5 attended, many more expressed interest in future trips) that we will try to coordinate next year's trip to NOLA with Cornell's spring break, if possible.
3/30/08 - Trip Nearing - The NOLA trip is almost upon us. We have 10 confirmed attendees heading to the Crescent City, supported by generous donations and excellent people. Included in the 'generous' part is going to be a meal at one of the best restaurants in New Orleans, namely Brigtsen's Restaurant. We'll also be meeting with several local gamers and residents, and dispersing a lot of books and games that have been donated to the cause. Stay tuned for more info, and check the new Site Blog for updates while we're down there.
1/20/08 - Zazzle Gallery - We have a gallery of Gamers For Humanity products available at  . The direct link to our gallery is www.zazzle.com/gamersforhumanity*. Mousepads, mugs, magnets, soon to be followed by t-shirts and other apparel.
1/17/08 - Change of Plans! - The dates are staying the same, but it looks like we won't be working with Habitat on our first trip. Schedules are not working out between us and them, so we have made modifications. We will be doing the same work--building houses for New Orleans residents in need--but we'll be working with The Phoenix of New Orleans instead. They are a great organization, and we're looking forward to the trip more than ever.
1/7/08 - Gen Con Sponsorship!
Gen Con LLC, out of a great sense of charity and in return for our spreading the word of Gen Con while we work, has been tremendously gracious in their sponsorship of Gamers for Humanity. We wanted to officially announce what that sponsorship includes:
1) 4 (FOUR) Gen Con Indy Promo Passes for 08. These will be randomly distributed among our participants (i.e. people attending our trip in April). FREE badges to Gen Con! For FOUR of our people!
2) Off The Grid and Gen Con SWAG for participants!
3) A forum for discussion of our project on the Gen Con LLC forums.
4) A press release about us, to be assembled in the near future.
5) Last, but certainly not least...a BOOTH at Gen Con Indy, in the Exhibit Hall. This is wonderful!
We can't thank the people at Gen Con enough. Megan, Peter, Melissa, Adrian...they have been so generous.
12/01/07 - The date for our first project has been set! We will be in New Orleans from April 6th through the 12th, working with Habitat for Humanity to help rebuild one of America's greatest cities. Come and join us!
11/25/07 - We have adopted an excellent logo, designed by Cody, one of our members. We can now set about designing t-shirts, buttons, business cards, and other useful stuff. Here's the logo:
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