Board game industry professionals band together for Palestinian children-focused fundraiser
A host of board game publishers, designers, artists and content creators are hoping to raise $5,000 to help Palestinian children affected by the Israel-Hamas war, via a 12-hour internet livestream this coming weekend.
Root publisher Leder Games, Gloomhaven maker Cephalofair and Wonderland’s War publisher Druid City Games are among a dozen tabletop publishers supporting the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund by donating games for the livestream, which will run from 12.30pm ET on June 8 to 1am ET on June 9.
Board game designers signed up to give away 1-on-1 coaching sessions through the fundraiser include Calvin Wong Tze Loon, co-designer of the new Mass Effect board game with Eric Lang, and recent Diana Jones Emerging Designer award winner Clarence Simpson.
The creators of board game-focused webcomic Semi Co-op will be giving away some of their art for the cause, while content creators including Beneeta K, Brain In A Jar and Panda8ngel will be raising awareness and taking part in giveaways during the lengthy stream.
The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund was launched in 1991 to provide free medical care to injured and ill children who lack access to care within the local health care system.
PCRF’s current Gaza Relief and Recovery campaign has so far raised more than $25m to provide essential medical supplies, food, medical treatment, clean water, and other necessities for families affected by the war between Israel and Hamas.
More than 37,000 people have been killed during the war so far, over 36,000 of those Palestinian.
The Gazan education ministry says children have been the biggest victims of the eight-month war so far, with more than 15,000 killed.
Organiser Jillian Ross, the marketing designer at Brotherwise Games, told BoardGameWire, “After watching other industries do successful fundraising events for Palestinian charities, I felt like it was a no-brainer to do one in the board gaming industry.
“While the board gaming industry is niche, we do have a lot of power to make a difference. You never know who will stumble across these streams or posts – even just one person making a donation will make a difference.
“I fortunately have a lot of contacts in the space due to my full time job, so it was easy for me to reach out to folks for the event.
“The positive response was overwhelming! I was replying to emails for days before I got caught up.”
The link to the stream will go live when the event begins, and will be available to access through the homepage of monthly board game streaming event Tabletop After Dark.
Ross is still looking for more publishers, designers, artists, and creators to take part in the fundraiser – anyone interested should email her on meanpomelo@gmail.com.
