Live Game Auctions -Charity

Gen Con & Origins Charity Auctions

Every year at Origins and Gen Con we donate a segment of the auction to charity. 100% of the money raised selling the items goes to the charity that the convention selected as the sponsored charity that year. Here's a history of the amounts raised by the auction and the convention's charity that year. Other events, like the Klingon Jail & Bail and Cardhalla, raise additional money so this is just a portion of the amount that generous gamers contributed to charity!

Convention / Year	Amount Raised	Charity
Gen Con 2009	$10,036.00	Indiana Math and Science Academy
Gen Con 2008	$17,398.00	Fisher House Foundation
Origins 2008	$831.50	Christian Children's Fund
Gen Con 2007	$9802.25	Christel House International

Gen Con 2009 Charity Event:

The official charity for Gen Con this year was the Indiana Math and Science Academy (IMSA) located in Indianapolis, Indiana. IMSA is a small K- 10, structured school helping students learn though a variety of projects, competitions, educational camps and even international trips!
We raised $10,036 for the charity. But in addition to this, Cardhalla raised additional funds (we auctioned off the first coin toss - which is not included in the total - it'll be included in their total). You can read more about the charity auction by visiting the Gen Con's official Charity page

In 2008, the charity auction ran much longer than planned, resulting in our collectables auction starting later and going much later than anticipated. In 2009, we ran the charity auction as the LAST auctioning of the evening. This allowed us to begin sorting items for return to sellers much earlier. Unfortunately, we had a fire alarm that interrupted the charity auction and caused it to go later than planned. Read the details here.

Origins 2009 Charity Event:

The official charity for Origins this year will be the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International. This was the favorite charity of Dave Arneson, the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, who died earlier this year.

Gen Con 2008 Charity Event:

On Saturday, August 15^th, 2008 at 6:00 PM, the Gen Con Live Game Auction hosted their traditional charity auction. This year, the event was in honor of Gary Gygax. We raised $17,800.00 for Fisher House Foundation, the official charity of Gen Con this year!! The Fisher House Foundation donates "comfort homes," built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful times - during the hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury. The homes are normally located within walking distance of the treatment facility or have transportation available.

There has been some controversy regarding the original choice for the charity. Follow this link to see the official Gen Con comments regarding the choice.

One of the items that was auctioned off was a HUGE 20-sided die that was left out in the corridor during the convention. A hole in the "8" on the die allowed conventioneers to drop dice into the large die in honor of Gary Gygax. The auctioning of this monstrous die was a very emotional event, it sold for $1500.

Here's a video an attendee captured showing the auctioning of the die: YouTube video

Gen Con 2007 Charity Event:

Gen Con’s charity segment of the live game auction raised $9802.25 for Christel House International, the check was given to them on 8/21/07.