Looking for Board Game Charities

Hello, all.  I had a brainstorm yesterday, and it involves charities.  As I was thinking about new things that I can do with this blog, one of the things that I've wondered about has been what charities are making use of "my kind" of board games.  I've heard about charities that use Chess to teach young children to think ahead.  I also know that some public libraries and YMCA branches use board games as a healthy avenue for kids to interact with each other - especially on the blisteringly hot days of summer.  I've also heard of the Jack Vasel Fund for gamers in dire straights.  But, I don't know much about any of these charities, and I'm sure there are lots of others that I haven't even heard of!  (Like, isn't there one known as "Meeples for Peoples" or something like that?)

Do you work with a charity that uses board games in some neat way?  If so, I'd love to hear about it!  Please tell me about yourself and your charity!  Why would you bother?  Well, there are a couple of reasons.  First, I'd love to help spread the word about your charity.  If I get actual interest, I would like to create a "featured charity" post every month or so, in which case I will let you do a write up about how awesome your charity is and then I will post it here on the site.  This will help more gamers know about what you're doing.  Secondly, I have a lot of games.  Sometimes, you could even say that some of these games are "extra".  Now, I often try to trade games that I don't like, but occasionally I just like to clear the shelves and do something good for the world - and so, if you are able to use my games to make the world a better place, then that sounds like a great deal.  (The closer you are to Philly, the better, so that shipping is cheaper for me.  Or, if you authorize me to share your address, then I can notify others if they are looking to donate games.)  If this is you, then please let me know what kinds of games you can use - do they have to be new, or can you utilize used games?  Do you only want kid friendly games, or are more complex strategy games ok?

If you have any more ideas of how I can help your charity, please run those by me as well!  I just had the one quick brainstorm, so I figured I would get the discussion rolling - who knows where this might lead (if anywhere)!

4 comments:

  1. Don't the guys at Penny Arcade run a game-based charity? My Internet is crawling right now, or I'd use my Google-fu to look it up.

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  2. Just Googled it - I think that you're referring to the Child's Play charity for kids in hospitals. It's primarily about video games, but I'll look into it further. Thanks!

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  3. I know of a Magic-based scholarship charity - http://gamershelpinggamers.org/

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  4. Charities comes in many forms it totally depends on you what kind of charity you opt for giving the charity for the people in need.

    charities in Australia

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