Silent Auction

We've decided to hold a silent game auction at Give to Game! All money collected from this auction will benefit the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas.

So, how will the silent auction work? There will be a table with several games and puzzles on display for auction. Each item in the auction will have a bidding sheet with the item name and description. If you are interested in the item, you can sign your name and increase the bid amount (in increments of one dollar). We will give a warning leading up to it, but at 8:00 pm the bidding will close. Since this is for charity, some wiggle room will be given if there are any last minute bidding wars. With some luck and some clever bidding, you could go home with some new games!

You can make the auction a success by bidding on the games so make sure to bring some extra spending money. You can also help out by donating games if you'd like. We would be happy to receive them. Just drop us an email at givetogame@gmail.com to let us know.

See you there, and happy bidding!

Thought Hammer Gives

The giving continues! I just found out that Thought Hammer, the online board game retailer based here in Austin, is donating two $25 gift certificates for their online store. If you aren't familiar with Thought Hammer, check out their website and you'll find a world of boardgames at great prices. You might even want to check out how you would spend that gift certificate if you are lucky enough to win one. Remember, you have a chance to win one of these gift certificates (as well as many other prizes) just by attending. So, spread the word: Give to Game!

Capital Area Food Bank of Texas Intro

So, what is the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas? Well according to their mission statement:

The mission of the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas is to nourish hungry people and lead the community in ending hunger.

The food bank provides weekly food distribution to more than 355 Partner Agencies and disaster relief, conducts several programs that serve hungry Central Texans. All programs are free of charge.

• The Partner Education program works to educate partner distribution agencies to ensure access to serviced by underserved people and areas.
• The Choices program offers education classed to help individuals and families make good food choices.
• The Food Stamp Outreach and Education program helps assist individuals and families to apply for food stamps.
• The Fresh Food for Families program helps to provide 3,600 families a month with over 10,000 lbs of fresh produce.
• The Kids Cafe program provides 35,000 meals a month to 2,800 children in need at their 31 Kid's Cafe locations.
• The Healthy Options program for the Elderly (HOPE) program provides seniors on a fixed income with a months supply of staple grocerys.
• The Regional Food Delivery program provides more than 150,000 lbs of perishable packaged foods to 121 partner agencies in outlying areas.
• The Central Texas Food Rescue program provides partner agencies with fresh foods from local retailers that would otherwise be thrown out.
• Wheels of Sharing Mobile Food Pantry program; which provides fresh foods to remote locations in Central Texas where no food pantry is available.
• The Food Bank also participates in two partner programs: Texas Fresh Approach and Texas Second Chance. Both of these programs work with inmates who learn to grow and distribute food.

They do a lot of good work and are needed even more in this current economy as many families are struggling. We hope that you are able to come out on April 25th and give to this worthy cause. See you there!

Great Haul!

Yesterday, I stopped by Great Hall Games to pick up some donations for Give To Game. Beka, one of the owners, led me out to her car where the games were. As it turns out, I was helping her out because they had been taking up space in her car trunk for quite some time and she wanted that space back. To my amazement, she was able to give me a trunk load of board games and puzzles! After I transferred those games to my car, we went inside, and she had another stack of games waiting for me! And if that wasn't more than enough, she hand picked some games on the clearance rack to add to the pile. I was amazed! I am very grateful at the generosity of Great Hall Games for their support. All of the games donated will be given out as door prizes or will be auctioned off in a silent auction (I'll let you know more about that in a future post).

Welcome!

Give to Game is a board gaming event in Austin, Texas, whose goal is to collect food and raise funds for the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. Come join us for a day of open gaming and a chance to win some great door prizes!

Date & Place
The event takes place on April 25, 2009 from 10:00 AM to Midnight at Holy Cross Lutheran Church on 4622 S Lamar Blvd Austin, Texas.

Admission
Admission to the event is either one grocery bag of non-perishable food or a donation of $20 (or $10 if you register by April 18th). To register, send an email to givetogame@gmail.com and let us know that you plan on attending. Registration is not required, but it does help us out.

Games
We will be providing a library of games from our collection for anyone to play, but feel free to bring your own games!

Food & Drinks
There will be drinks and snacks available for a small donation.

Door Prizes
So far, we have about 20 board games that are going to be given out as door prizes, but look for that number to go up as we move closer to the event.

More Info to Come Soon...