Nerd Night @ Geekdom Benefiting Merced Housing TX
Join us as we gather in support of Merced’s mission to create and strengthen healthy communities by providing quality, affordable, service-enriched housing.
Wish list to come! Check this space.
Charity Spotlight: The San Antonio Food Bank
The San Antonio Food Bank provides food and grocery products to more than 530 partner agencies in 16 counties throughout Southwest Texas. The mission of the SAFB is to fight hunger in Southwest Texas through food distribution, programs, education, and advocacy.
Food insecurity, or not knowing where your next meal is coming from, is a rampant problem in our wealthy state. Some statistics:
- One in five adults in Southwest Texas struggles with hunger.
- One in four children is at risk of food insecurity.
- Texas ranks 8th nationally in rate of food insecurity.
- Each week, the San Antonio Food Bank assists 58,000 individuals in sixteen counties through their various programs.
- 98% of all donated resources go directly to hunger relief.
Some of the San Antonio Food Bank’s programs include:
- Kid’s Cafe: Neighborhood children can go to one of 28 Kids Cafe sites in the San Antonio area after school for a hot meal and homework help. 1,000 children visit these sites each day.
- Project HOPE: Provides a 50-lb. bag of shelf-stable, supplemental food items to fixed-income seniors. 7,500 seniors every month are served by Project HOPE.
- Nutrition Education: The San Antonio Food Bank deploys nearly a dozen bilingual nutrition educators into the San Antonio community every day to teach people how to shop for and prepare healthier meals.
- Distribution: Mobile Food Pantries and Food Fairs allow the San Antonio Food Bank to distribute 1 million pounds of food weekly to difficult-to-reach individuals in the 16-county area (17,559 square miles) the food bank serves.
In 2015, the San Antonio Food Bank provided nearly 62 million pounds of food. We’re trying to make a very small scratch on the surface of that with our food drive.
So dig into your pockets, go through those cupboards. Find some of these “twelve most wanted” non-perishables and bring them by either Geekdom (main lobby) or Knight Watch Games, or just click here to go to our virtual food drive and make a cash donation. Every $1.00 donated provides seven meals to a hungry Texan.
12 Most Wanted Items:
Peanut Butter
Cereal
Tuna
Beans
Rice
Mac & Cheese
Chili
Canned Stews
Canned Soups
Canned Luncheon Meats
Full Means Can/Box
Pop Top Food Items
December Nerd Night @ Knight Watch Games
The San Antonio Food Bank distributes food to more than 58,000 individuals struggling with food insecurity in Southwest Texas each week. 17.1% of the population of Texas is food insecure, the second highest rate in the country. Food insecurity in Southwest Texas affects one in five adults and one in four children.
Join us in supporting the San Antonio Food Bank in the month of December. Donate food at Geekdom and Knight Watch Games from Dec 1st – Dec 31st. Look for the big red barrel!
Most needed items:
Peanut Butter
Cereal
Tuna
Beans
Rice
Macaroni & Cheese
Chili
Canned Stews & Soups
Canned Luncheon Meats
Full Meals in a Can/Box
“Pop-Top” Food Items
December Nerd Night @ Geekdom
The San Antonio Food Bank distributes food to more than 58,000 individuals struggling with food insecurity in Southwest Texas each week. 17.1% of the population of Texas is food insecure, the second highest rate in the country. Food insecurity in Southwest Texas affects one in five adults and one in four children.
Join us in supporting the San Antonio Food Bank in the month of December. Donate food at Geekdom and Knight Watch Games from Dec 1st – Dec 31st. Look for the big red barrel!
Most needed items:
Peanut Butter
Cereal
Tuna
Beans
Rice
Macaroni & Cheese
Chili
Canned Stews & Soups
Canned Luncheon Meats
Full Meals in a Can/Box
“Pop-Top” Food Items
Meetup Group, Updates and More
Meetup
In the interest of finding more like-minded folks, I’ve started a Meetup group. Click here to visit, join up and stay informed about Nerd Night goings-on. I’ll still be maintaining the website as I 1) enjoy it and 2) think it’s really a better platform for blogging and such, but this gives me access to better recruiting tools and an additional promotional avenue. We’ll give it a shot and see how it works out!
December
Nerd Night is TONIGHT! I’m excited to see how a Friday works out at Magic Beans, and also to fill up that huge barrel. Check out our list of 12 Most Wanted Items and come by to see us tonight!
12 Most Wanted Items:
Peanut Butter
Cereal
Tuna
Beans
Rice
Mac & Cheese
Chili
Canned Stews
Canned Soups
Canned Luncheon Meats
Full Means Can/Box
Pop Top Food Items
January
I’m also excited to announce that next month’s Nerd Night is going to benefit the donation center at Family Violence Prevention Services. I’ll have more information about what’s most critically needed over the next week or so, and I hope everyone will get behind this very worthy cause.
See you tonight, nerds!
Giving Tuesday: Virtual Food Drive!
Giving Tuesday
This is the 4th year for Giving Tuesday, a day to highlight volunteering and charity donations on the day after “Cyber Monday.” In the last four years it has come to symbolize the beginning of the charitable season. I’m all for anything that encourages people to give back! Consider this my official Giving Tuesday post to encourage everyone to take a moment and visit our Virtual Food Drive to benefit the San Antonio Food Bank.
One of the only complaints I had at our November toy drive was that I didn’t have any way for people to donate using their credit cards. Luckily for me, the San Antonio Food Bank is on top of things and set me up with the virtual food drive for our December event! It’s a cute little flash-based shopping spree, where you drive your shopping cart down virtual shopping aisles and select food items by the case or dollar amounts to donate. It’s easy and fun, and is a secured option provided by the food bank for your peace of mind. No worries about handing over cash to some stranger at a game night!
Anyway. Those of you who can’t make it out to see us at Magic Beans, please consider clicking here and doing some virtual shopping to help feed the hungry and food insecure in Southwest Texas. The food drive will be active throughout the month of December. The food barrel will be at Magic Beans from December 4th – 14th, and December Nerd Night will be Friday, December 11th, starting at 6pm. Clean out those cupboards, put a few extra cans in your cart at the grocery store. Be a part of the solution! The Nerd Nighters and the San Antonio Food Bank thank you. 🙂
Charity Spotlight: The San Antonio Food Bank
For December, we highlight another charity close to my heart: The San Antonio Food Bank.
In 2012, I was laid off from a job and once my SNAP benefits expired, the food bank was my next stop. Time to pay it forward.
It’s impossible to overstate how much this organization relies on donations. It’s also impossible to overstate how desperately it is needed in Southwest Texas. Food insecurity, or not knowing where your next meal is coming from, is a rampant problem in our wealthy state. Some statistics:
- One in five adults in Southwest Texas struggles with hunger.
- One in four children is at risk of food insecurity.
- Texas ranks 8th nationally in rate of food insecurity.
- Each week, the San Antonio Food Bank assists 58,000 individuals in sixteen counties through their various programs.
- 98% of all donated resources go directly to hunger relief.
Some of the San Antonio Food Bank’s programs include:
- Kid’s Cafe: Neighborhood children can go to one of 28 Kids Cafe sites in the San Antonio area after school for a hot meal and homework help. 1,000 children visit these sites each day.
- Project HOPE: Provides a 50-lb. bag of shelf-stable, supplemental food items to fixed-income seniors. 7,500 seniors every month are served by Project HOPE.
- Nutrition Education: The San Antonio Food Bank deploys nearly a dozen bilingual nutrition educators into the San Antonio community every day to teach people how to shop for and prepare healthier meals.
- Distribution: Mobile Food Pantries and Food Fairs allow the San Antonio Food Bank to distribute 1 million pounds of food weekly to difficult-to-reach individuals in the 16-county area (17,559 square miles) the food bank serves.
The San Antonio Food Bank distributes 50 million pounds of food every year. We’re trying to make a very small scratch on the surface of that with our food drive. A single shopping cart = 100 lbs, and we’re trying to fill three.
So dig into your pockets, go through those cupboards. Find some of these “twelve most wanted” non-perishables and bring them by Magic Beans, or just click here to go to our virtual food drive and make a cash donation. Every $1.00 donated provides seven meals to a hungry Texan.
12 Most Wanted Items:
Peanut Butter
Cereal
Tuna
Beans
Rice
Mac & Cheese
Chili
Canned Stews
Canned Soups
Canned Luncheon Meats
Full Means Can/Box
Pop Top Food Items
Join us in supporting the San Antonio Food Bank in the month of December. Donate food at Magic Beans Gaming Cafe from December 4th – December 14th, or donate online here. Mark your calendar for DECEMBER NERD NIGHT on Friday, December 11th starting at 6:00 PM.
Nerd Night is this weekend!
It’s almost time for our first Nerd Night! I’m so excited at the interest that has been generated, not that I was surprised – I know that gamers are the most generous of folks, and when given the chance to come out for a good cause, they will. It’s hard to find a better one than Elf Louise! So grab those new, unwrapped toys and c’mon down to Magic Beans on Saturday night! We’ll be there starting at 6pm, signing up people for Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, RPG demos and more.
An Extra Life 2015 update: Some of you might have seen my Facebook post, but ICYMI: Extra Life has raised almost SEVEN MILLION dollars so far this year for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals! I was proud to be a (very small) part of Team Nix World, who surpassed its goal, raising nearly $6,000 (with more still to be counted). If you’d like to donate, there is still time. Head to this link and click on “support me.”
Lastly, a bit of housekeeping. The December event has moved to FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11th. Once I get through this weekend, we’ll be starting to promote December! Our charity will be the San Antonio Food Bank, and we’ll be collecting non-perishable food items at Magic Beans. So pick up some extra food to prepare when you go to the grocery store for the next few weeks.
That’s all for now! Hope to see each and every one of you at Magic Beans on Saturday at 6pm. Looking forward to kicking this off right.
– Stephanie