The Moose Jaw Gamers Association had yet another successful year hosting its annual Summer and Winter Gamer’s Expo (GAX), which means it was recently able to present a record donation of $3,000 to the Moose Jaw & District Food Bank’s Mighty Munchies program.
“It's our biggest donation to date, so that means we are doing something right,” said Kristian Sjoberg, spokesman for the MGJA.
The Mighty Munchies program is a relatively new initiative at the Food Bank. It focuses on providing a baggie of snack items for kids to ensure they have enough nutritional items to get them through their school day.
“Kids need at least three snacks a day at school. They're always hungry and eating,” said Deann Little, development manager at the Food Bank. “And so we’ve used the donations coming in right now for easy items like granola bars, fruit cups, juice boxes and things like that to put into these bags.”
The MJGA’s donation will be used specifically to purchase more nut-free items for the snack bags, as well as fresh produce for a more nutritious element, said Little.
For the MJGA, it was the perfect initiative to focus this year’s fundraising efforts on, as it wanted to support a program that helps kids in the community.
It’s also satisfying to Sjoberg because hosting an event such as GAX is a unique way for people to come out and support their community.
“It really gives our nerds and geeks, like myself, the chance to get out and do something that typically introverted people, like myself and my friends, aren’t able to do because they don’t like typical fundraisers,” said Sjoberg.
Because the Mighty Munchies program really only launched last year, the MJGA’s ongoing support right from the beginning has been very helpful in getting the word out about the program.
It also means their donation is the largest one yet for the program.
“This was something that I really wanted to implement and I'm just excited that Kristian and the rest of the group from the gamers has come on board and supported this program,” said Little. “When you can feed their tummies, you can feed their minds.”
The Food Bank is always in need of monetary donations to be able to purchase needed items for the Mighty Munchies program, so the MJGA has issued a challenge to any business or individual in the community to sponsor a Mighty Munchies bag.
“When you sponsor a bag, you actually get your name put on that bag, so we're hoping that more people and more companies come out and take our challenge to really support the local food bank, not just with food donations but cash donations as well,” said Sjoberg.
The Moose Jaw Food Bank is now able to take all forms of monetary donations, both at their office on Fairford St. West and Third Avenue N.W., as well as online at mjfoodbank.org.
The MGJA will return with their 2020 Summer GAX on July 10-12, with plenty of gaming opportunities in between.
