The Moose Jaw Gamers Association (MJGA) had to unfortunately cancel its largest summer fundraiser due to the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean the charitable organization won’t be donating to a deserving cause this year.
This year the group chose to support Creative Kids Saskatchewan, and the MJGA has already written and delivered a $500 cheque to the grant program — after an epic adventure, of course.
Since physical distancing is a continued concern for many, the MJGA got creative in how it delivered the cheque donation into the hands of manager Gloria Walsh from Creative Kids — taped to the roof of a remote control vehicle, filmed and featured on the MJGA Facebook page as it makes the journey to Walsh’s hands.
The donation comes from a revision of the MJGA’s annual budget, where the group found some extra funds going unused due to the cancellation of the 2020 Summer Gamers Expo.
“We don't have the ability to do a full fundraiser with (Creative Kids) this year, so we still want to be able to support them,” said MJGA spokesperson Kristian Sjoberg. “They're a really good charity that does a lot of good things in the province for arts programs and getting kids into things they might not otherwise get to do if they didn’t have these funds from Creative Kids.”
Creative Kids is a provincial program that works to alleviate the financial barriers to arts and cultural programs, so children can participate in art, music, dance, and theatre programs with no worries.
The program has provided grants for kids in more than 220 communities across the province since 2010, providing over $3.8 million in grants, and all of the funds raised by the MJGA this year will go directly to Moose Jaw kids and programs.
Every year, the MJGA chooses a kid-based charity to support through its fundraising efforts, to help the “next generation of gamers” grow and succeed. Last year’s charity-of-choice was the Mighty Munchies program at the Moose Jaw & District Food Bank.
Creative Kids will continue to be the charity for 2020-21, said Sjoberg, as the MJGA aren’t throwing in the towel on its fundraising goals yet.
The Winter Gamers Expo is still on the calendar for the new year, and the MJGA is hoping it will be able to plan some smaller fundraising events in the meantime to make up for cancelling the Summer GAX.
“We’re hoping to do a movie night at the (Crescent Park) Amphitheatre or something, where people can still keep their social groups but be able to watch an outdoor movie,” said Sjoberg. “But if the province has to roll back phases because of outbreaks, we don’t want to plan anything on specific dates because you never know.”
Members of the MJGA are staying connected online, using the group’s Discord server to host online Dungeons & Dragons sessions and other games, and posting regular updates on their Facebook page.
