Dani Diaz talks about Geeks Who Give & Indy Hall Crew at the Philabundance food drive at Philly.net Code Camp. As well as a shout out to our most recent campaign for mentors with Philadelphia Futures. Thanks for the geek love as well as to Mark Magliocco for bringing GwG to CodeCamp!
Thank you to every one who got your game on for Geeks Who Give Game Night for Philadelphia Futures. From Apples-to-Apples to Yahtzee, we all had a good time for an excellent cause, making it a win-win situation for everyone involved. And of course, we love Tattooed Mom for hosting our shenanigans and making the whole thing possible! All of you came with your game face on, making this GwG event a huge success and raising a mountain of supplies for Philadelphia Futures.
- 5 Mentors (that’s HUGE!)
- 15 USB sticks
- 15 folders
- 13 packages of pencils (137 pencils)
- 12 packs of pens (186 pens)
- 9 packs of highlighters (49 highlighters)
- 8 boxes of paperclips (hundreds of paperclips)
- 5 binders & Trapper Keepers
- 4 packs of crayons (188 crayons)
- 4 packs of post-its
- 4 rulers
- 3 glue sticks
Interested in doing more? You can still sign up to become a mentor, or contact Philadelphia Futures for other volunteer opportunities. If time is money, well, they’ll take that too – make a cash donation; Tmoms has already started the ball rolling with an extremely generous financial contribution, just one more reason to love the Moms! What ever you do be sure to tell them we sent you (Philadelphia Futures <3 Geeks).
Pics or it didn’t happen. Check out the tag geekswhogive on Flickr for some of the most recent uploads from Geeks Who Give Events. Share the love: remember to share your photos with everyone by tagging them geekswhogive !
Stay tuned to Geeks Who Give for our next event by Getting Involved or better yet help planning it by joining the google group.
The GamesMasters over at RedCap’s Corner have donated some epic loot for some very lucky geeks at tonight’s Geeks Who Give Game Night for Philadelphia Futures at Tattooed Mom 6-9!
World of Warcraft Trading Cards starter kit.
Never played a trading card game? Have no fear, the World of Warcraft Drums of War set has everything two players need to get started. Open up the box and start the PvP pwnage! Bonus: if you have a character in Azeroth online, the random loot card could bring you one step closer to some new gear. You know your frost mage needs a new look before the next Darkmoon Faire.
THE superhero Role Playing Game, Mutants and Masterminds.
In this brand new second edition version, you get to create your own Superhero: the powers, back story, motivation, hey – even the costume. You decide if you want to fly, or have superstrength, or breathe underwater; any power you can think of, you can have. And then off you go to thwart the evil masterminds bent on total global domination. This book will transform your world. Don’t worry, we’ll keep your real identity a secret.
Several gift cards for their shop (you know you need a new d20).
RedCap’s Corner is a rad new game shop in west philadelphia! Follow them on twitter to get updates on nightly events and tournaments!
Remember the first day of school? When you had a brand new notebook that didn’t have little pieces of paper stuck in the spiral? Remember how that spiral was still actually in the notebook and not half unraveled? When you had pens that weren’t all chewed up, that still had ink and had caps on them? When you had pencils that weren’t little stubs with no eraser?
Maybe you needed a laptop for high school. Maybe you didn’t have to carry around a 5″ or 3.5″ floppy disc for each class. Maybe you used one USB drive for your whole year’s worth of homework.
Ah, the first day of high school, when all possibilities were open. When notebooks and USB drives were empty spaces waiting to be filled. Without them, you couldn’t pass your classes. Couldn’t remember all of the stuff you were supposed to. Couldn’t cram for that history test on the bus or at lunch.
So go to Staples, rummage through your desk drawer, raid the supply closet at your job, do whatever you can to grab a PACK of notebooks, pens, or pencils. Or grab that 1G USB drive you got at that conference 5 years ago, but that you now laugh at because your bluetooth headset has more memory. Bring it to TMoms on Thursday, April 2 for G2: Geeks Who Give Game Night to donate to the kids at Philadelphia Futures.
Because they need this stuff, too. They might even pass that history test, thanks to you.
This Thursday, March 26, four excellent events were scheduled, all in one night – GWG, PhillyCHI, jQuery at Indy Hall, & PANMA – Yowza. In light of this awesome overload, Geeks Who Give is extending the fun to the following Thursday, April 2nd.
Join us for G2: Geeks Who Game Night at Tattooed Mom’s on Thursday, April 2, 2009. From board games to card games – we’re planning on having a wide selection; have a favorite? Bring it!
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G Drink Specials from Tmoms:
$1.50 Pabst Blue Ribbon
$3.00 Yards Philly Pale
$3.00 Philadelphia Brewing Company Kenzinger
$3.00 Hamburgers or Vegan Burgers.
Admission: 1 jump drive or 1 package of school appropriate office supplies (pens, notebooks, highlighters, etc). This is a 21+ event.
Philadelphia Futures is a local nonprofit that has been the youth of Philadelphia teens realize their dreams of a higher education for more than 20 years.
We would love your support in getting the word out! Get Involved
Philadelphia Futures is looking for a few good geeks, in the form of new mentors! From board games to card games, and maybe a few mind games, (Werewolf anyone?) G2: Geeks Who Game will be all about old school fun for some new school altruism. Tattooed Mom is raising the stakes with some amazing specials for this event:
You Game? Follow us on Twitter for more updates or RSVP on the Face Book Event Page!
Philadelphia Futures is a local nonprofit that has been the youth of Philadelphia teens realize their dreams of a higher education for more than 20 years. Inspired by Geeks Who Give, I’d like to take a moment of your time to ask you to consider donating. . . more of your time.
What Futures does is match one student with one mentor, beginning in their freshman year. The student/mentor relationship continues until that student graduates high school. Futures provides academic support in the form of tutoring, SAT prep, college visits, advanced course work, and more.
The mentor just has to show up.
I’m only half kidding about that. You would be amazed at how much impact the consistent presence of an interested, involved adult can have on a teenager’s development. These are kids who go to some of the worst schools and live in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country. Having an adult who offers consistent support and interest in their lives is a luxury very few of them have. The time commitment for mentors is one phone call per week, and one face-to-face meeting per month. That’s it.
Just think about it; that’s one less podcast per week, one less brunch per month.
And for the guys out there, Futures is desperately in need of male mentors. 60% of the drop outs in Philly are young men/boys. And in a city where many of these boys don’t have positive male role models, you bring an extra benefit to their lives.
If you can’t sign up as a mentor, then please consider volunteering to be a resource for the program. There is a digital divide right here in our city. All of these students are from low-income families with little or no access to the technology we all use every day and that most college-bound students have grown up with. Spending time with people who understand and use technology would be a tremendous learning experience for them. Consider making yourself available for interviews, job shadowing or offering internships. Or maybe we can have a Geek Career Day for these kids.
Apply now. They need at least 60 new mentors for their incoming class.
If you can’t mentor but are interested in getting involved in other ways, e-mail us at info [at] geekswhogive [dot] org and we’ll figure out how.
Come out for a good time and help a great cause: Philadelphia Futures! Join us for G2: Geeks Who Game Night at Tattooed Mom’s on Thursday March 26th.
Put some skin in the game with a minimum of 1 jump drive or 1 package of school appropriate office supplies (pens, notebooks, highlighters, etc).
There will be drink specials and some old school pwnage! Stay tuned for more info…
Philadelphia’s high school graduation rate is approximately 50%. You read that correctly: only 50% of high school students in Philadelphia actually graduate (compared with 89% in the suburbs). The percentage of those Philadelphia students who actually go on to four year colleges and universities is much lower.
Philadelphia Futures is a local nonprofit that has been doing something about this for more than 20 years. What Futures does is match one student with one mentor, beginning in their freshman year. The student/mentor relationship continues until that student graduates high school. Futures provides academic support in the form of tutoring, SAT prep, college visits, advanced course work, and more. Apply now. They need at least 60 new mentors for their incoming class.
For the guys out there, Futures is desperately in need of male mentors. 60% of the drop outs in Philly are young men and boys. And in a city where many of these boys don’t have positive male role models, you bring an extra benefit to their lives.
As Geeks Who Give, we are all working to ensure the community continues to grow; the success of this city is dependent on the future of Philadelphia which must include equal opportunity for all. Be on the look out for more information and upcoming events from Geeks Who Give and Philadelphia Futures.
by Stephen Winkler, passionate Philadelphia Futures mentor & advocate.
It’s not a foreign concept to the Geeks Who Give community: mobilize people through the use of Social Media (in this case, namely Twitter) to get together, have fun, and do some good. 
Originating in London in the fall of 2008, Twestival has since grown into a global effort to help raise money for Charity:Water; an organization which seeks to bring safe and clean drinking water to people in developing nations. On Thursday, February 12, 2009 160 cities across the world will be participating in tomorrow’s festivities (or twestivities, as the case may be).
The Philadelphia Twestival will be at the Get Happy Pub in Society Hill. Tickets are $10 for general admission; $25 gets you entry AND a chance to play your heart out in the Rock Band Tournament. There will be Drink Specials and some pretty Rockin’ Raffle prizes. Follow phltwestival for more info.
Please join us on Thursday April 2nd for our next GWG event to benefit Philadelphia Futures!
Get involved, become a mentor!