I struggle when bad things happen to good people. It’s the question that nagged me from the time I was being raised Catholic in rural Minnesota to today, when it haunts me on a daily basis. I work in philanthropy because not everyone has equal footing, and sometimes, even then, terrible things happen for utterly no reason. Perhaps watching The Butterfly Effect had a profound result on me. One cannot control the chaos of life, but damn it, we can do something about it after it happens.

Mariah, alive and kicking!

This is Mariah Boehm. She was struck by a car while walking on the street in Renton, Washington. She’s seventeen and is currently unable to walk. She broke bones and has bruises aplenty, and her spinal cord was seriously injured. Her long-term ability to walk is still unknown. You can learn more about the accident here.

She is one of us, and she needs our help.

What I see is a fundraising goal of $70,000 to retrofit her house and help with her care. I can tell you from experience with a childhood friend who was physical and mentally immobilized that outfitting a house alone will eat up those funds. I still wonder what I can do to help out their family. His mother was a fellow teacher of my parents, and it’s utterly heartbreaking. I didn’t do enough then, and now this comes up. I cannot stand by and do nothing again.

I’m running a fundraiser with help from the owners and friends at Universe Games for Mariah to help cover medical and getting-back-to-a-normal-life expenses.

After talking to the owners of Universe Games, we will be taking two existing events and making them charity events:

Saturday, August 2 – STARCITYGAMES INVITATIONAL QUALIFYING

Time: TBA

Format: Modern Constructed

Entry Fee: $25

Event Structure: Swiss rounds, cutting to Top 8

Prizes & Payout Structure:

• 1st place: Qualification for the StarCityGames.com Invitational*, $250 Travel Award, Top 8 pin
• 2nd place: 24 Packs of Current Set, Top 8 pin
• 3rd–4th: 12 Packs of Current Set, Top 8 pin
• 5th–8th: 6 Packs of Current Set, Top 8 pin

Sunday, August 3 – SUPER SEALED

Time: TBA

Format: Sealed, Limited format

One pack each of Theros, Born of the Gods, Journey into Nyx, Magic 2014, Return to Ravnica, Gatecrash, and Dragon’s Maze (7 packs)

Entry Fee: $30

Event Structure: Swiss rounds based on entry with cut to Top 4

Prizes & Payout Structure: 3 packs per player in the prize pool, breakdown announced during Round 1

Both events’ proceeds will be going directly to Mariah and her family. Universe Games will only cover the cost of goods for the events with zero profit. Really.

There will be two other things going on that day:

Magic Raffle

I am working on having gifts donated. The reason I want gift certificates like Chili’s over Matt’s Bar is that the raffle will be a need-not-be-present-to-win situation. This means that Twitter—among other mediums—folks from all over the world will be able to fully participate!

I will be fully encouraging outside bids for things like sealed product, artist proofs, and more.

I like the idea that a $5 donation buys you six raffle tickets and more can be bought for $1 apiece. That devil is in the details, but calling in bids over the phone isn’t hard, nor is a web-store item for bought tickets with people allocating which item they’d like to go for. It takes a little fine-tuning on our part locally, but after an original artwork was raffled and I couldn’t bid online, I am still pretty fired up.

Relevant to my interests, being a resident Vorthos and naming my column Painter’s Servant, there will be a lot of artist products. Silent-auction items can be a bear to get, but you know how I do—I have some pretty good ideas. Additionally, if we know each other on Twitter, I will be asking you.

I have nine of these mini canvases and, well, I’m thinking of sending them to artists with return postage and asking them incredibly politely to help Mariah out by making an image. I have a short list of whom I will ask, such as Steve Argyle and rk post, but we shall see! I know they’re often hit up for things like this, so we’ll see.

Many, many more items will be coming in over the next few weeks. You will hear about this on Twitter if you follow me at @VorthosMike. The list will be huge and won’t all be products.

Selfie Station

I’m ever a fan of documenting important things in the community. While many philanthropic events have official photographers, I’m more interested in Magic-themed snapshots with logos like the picture below to create a memory. Instagram is a thing, and it isn’t going away.

Grand Prix Houston Winner 2013 Shahar Shenhar; Joseph Ducreux, Boss Artist

The image on the right is what I’m looking for. In this charity event, we’ll have an area for Magic original art to be seen, providing a snapshot that someone was there and could see the art in person. There’s something magical to that. There might be Limited Edition Alpha art there. And by maybe, there will be . . . 

Were I to have enough time, I would’ve tried to get a local artist like Winona Nelson to stop back to Minnesota for a home visit, but perhaps we’ll have a charity event next year, too.

If you’re planning on having your own charity event for Mariah—or even for Gamers Helping Gamers or Child’s Play—CONTACT YOUR LOCAL ARTIST. I made a list for you to look up if you have one near you here. Check it out!

Aside: Only $.75 for this Commander beast

Informal Market Research

As for you, dear reader, this article seems to be a localized effort, but it is far from that. This is an example for you to copy. To reiterate that point, I’m going back to an article I wrote in February, “Starting a Magic Charity Tournament,” with some polls for viewers. I have the results, and here they are:

1. What’s the Charity?

• A local children’s cancer charity, whether it’s research or a hospital — 32
• Animal Humane Society, local preferred over the national — 7
• Minnesota Computers for Schools, mncfs.org (Or a “tech” access sort of nonprofit.) — 8
• Child’s Play, childsplaycharity.org, or fulfilling a local hospital’s list like the MN local chapter’s wish list — 30
• Gamers Helping Gamers, gamershelpinggamers.org — 15
• Other place, as listed in the comments below — 4

It’s best to have something that local players definitely relate to, especially if they’re invested. If not, the standbys are always children and health cards. It’s hard to say no to bald kids struggling or to a fellow Magic player who was in a tragic accident.

Also notable that tangible things are really helpful to Magic players to understand. For example, raising money to obtain a Wii U for rehab in the local children’s hospital is a great idea. Likewise, if you have a thing, people want to help with that thing. If you can put their name on it or give an update, even better. If Mariah and her family needed, like, two wheelchairs, and a small Saint Louis gaming store raised the exact amount for them, they, in essence, did that. That’s impactful and really helps the cause. Always remember that!

2. Tournament Format

• Draft – Standard-legal cards — 14
• Draft – Non-Standard-legal cards — 13
• Sealed – Standard-legal cards — 6
• Standard — 25
• Modern — 9
• Legacy — 4
• Draft of the Conspiracy set — 25

The Standard data set perhaps alludes to my demographic. It’s the most visible at FNM as a thing. Players always want the novelty, but keep in mind that Sealed events have the highest profit margins to be donated to whatever charity you like. Storing away twenty-four packs each year to do an “old Draft” that would begin in two or three years is a wise investment for future Drafts if you do it annually. You could then charge more for the Draft due to the age of the product. The problem lies in the fact that if you start the Draft at $10 to $15 adding $5 to $20 makes it feel as though you’re being nickeled and dimed to death instead of saying, “I already dropped $25 on this Draft—an extra $5 is whatever.”

Constructed is best, due to time, though using Sealed also scales up faster because there is no drafting time wasted in a full-day event.

3. +EV Additions to the Tournament

• Free parking, if an area that needs it — 22
• Free pizza/soda/snacks — 34
• Future events at the store discounted slightly for all charity tournament players — 13
• Winner would be interviewed by a local news station for a segment — 6
• Gathering Magic would give the winner—and the tournament—a shout out — 17
• Jon Finkel would sign a Shadowmage Infiltrator, saying a personal congrats to the winner — 33
• Small random door prizes, such as an FNM promo card — 59

There is huge, huge potential for giving very visible props to players. It’s why gala events have photos after the fact in a magazine, and there is a status involved with being seen there. Very important is the everyman prize of free food and the potential for getting something—anything.

4. Play Mats

• None — 18
• Every player gets one — 9
• Top 8 gets them — 5
• Top 8 gets them, and players can make a donation to get their own — 65
• Top 8 gets them, and a champion gets an alternate version — 10

This is always a large, established event, but this is the threshold that turns the $500 check into a $1,000-and-up check.

4a. Play Mat Art

• Current Magic artist — 43
• Former Magic artist — 17
• Soon-to-be Magic artist — 19
• Random artist — 27

It’s expensive to hire an established, current artist. I would ask a Wizards art director who is brand new or see who just got a card and ask that artist to do the play mat because he or she will probably blow up soon. Then it’s a speculation move, you know?

5. Prize

• Store credit — 10
• Uniquely-created champion play mat for the winner — 10
• Moxen, Tarmogyfs, or other big-ticket cards like judge foils — 16
• Variety of prizes, where standings allow you to choose first — 27
• Sealed product, such as packs — 18
• Artist proofs — 3
• Altered-art cards — 9
• Unique things, like artist-made play mats, artist-proof sketches, weird, expensive art swag like books — 14

I would always go with Sealed product for the masses. It’s the Magic Online ticket concept: It holds a value, and its worth isn’t debated. Having choices is even better because if you want that money and the only option is a Mox, it’s kind of a feel-meh experience instead of a feel-bad experience.

6. Raffle or Silent Auction

• Sure, I don’t have to participate. — 22
• Yes, I could easily see myself bidding on things and getting them wicked cheap. — 45
• Yes, but only if local; I want to actually win. — 18
• No, this is dumb. — 7

Silent auctions are much more difficult and can take state lottery/gambling paperwork, but people love getting a deal. Magic players are notorious for looking into expected value, or EV, and then checking it out for themselves by doing the math. LET THEM, AND ENCOURAGE IT!

7. Artist

• Yes, and make it a famous one who has done a lot of artworks. — 7
• Sure; any artist would be a great addition. — 65
• No, not needed. — 25

Again, check my artist contact list mentioned above, and ask someone if he or she would be interested in bringing his or her wares. Give the artist a table for free, buy him or her lunch, and let him or her do what he or she would like. I’d even offer pre-orders for sketches on artist-proof white-backs to encourage engagement before the event!

8. Art Show

• Yes — 41
• Yes, but only if some of the original art is for sale — 42
• No — 12

I think it’s unanimous that if art can be shown, do it! If you have some local Magic art collectors, having a NFS (not-for-sale) sign next to serious art like an Alpha original and some pricing next to others is a wise idea. I’ve seen consignment models with signed prints or altered cards, too. It’s a way for players to become involved with the charity idea. For example, perhaps a player keeps 80% of the price, and 20% is donated. The space needed is minimal, and the novelty is not to be ignored.

Mariah needs our help. Her family needs our help even more. If you can’t donate directly, bid on some things during our event.

I’m happy to see many community members beginning fundraisers, and I encourage you to do the same. Please feel free to contact me via my Twitter account @VorthosMike or by e-mailing me at mjlinnemann at gmail if you need help setting up even a little charity event!

- Mike