Garden State Council Presents: Game-A-Thon
The Foodbank of South Jersey is reporting a 200 percent increase in the number of families in our area who are now classified as “food insecure.” To assist the Food Bank of SJ in their mission and to launch our annual Scouting for Food service project, Garden State Council has partnered with PiF^2 to bring you Game-A-Thon: Hunger Games. All Scouts and Scouters – and families and community members – can participate as we Create, Compete, and Give in the first week of November.
Part 1: Creating with Hopscotch
Scouts: Build your own game! Every unit in Garden State Council has been assigned a free account with Hopscotch, an app-based game development system! Your Scouts can work as a team to develop the best (Scouting appropriate) app game they can and add it to our Hopscotch community page for everyone to try! Community voting will help us pick the top three games! Download this Hopscotch Leaders Guide for details about setting up your Hopscotch account for your unit. (Each unit’s key 3 adults were emailed their Hopscotch login credentials.)
Part 2: Play Games and Compete
Each participant is encouraged to download the PIF^2 app (find the links for iOS or Android here), which exclusively features our Game-A-Thon, and all of the (Scouting friendly) mobile games that PiF^2 have developed. Scouts, Scouters, family members, and community members are welcome to spend time playing games and post high scores to the gaming leaderboard. Challenge your friends to see who can stay at the top. A mobile device that can download apps is required.
Part 3: Giving Through Unit Competition
Which unit can raise the most money to help the Food Bank and Scouting in SJ? The donation leaderboard visible in the Game-A-Thon dashboard (powered by Givebutter) shows the progress of each participating unit. The ability to donate is also included in the PiF^2 Game-A-Thon app. So, spread the word about the Game-A-Thon and invite friends and family to play and to donate. When they donate, they can credit their donation to your unit, to help you in this friendly competition. The more donations we collect during the Game-A-Thon, the more we can help the Food Bank of SJ fight hunger this November!
Spread the Word
Units can post their participation on their own social media channels, especially to involve their community in the fundraising effort. When you post about game development with Hopscotch, you communicate the connection Scouting has with STEM, too! Game design, coding, playing games, and challenging friends all have connections to the Scouting program. So, have fun, and share it with your community. Suggested social media hastags: #gscgameathon #pif4hunger. Be sure to at-mention Garden State Council, so we can like your post. For Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, we are @gardenstatebsa.
If you have questions along the way, reach out to Allison Eckel, Garden State Council’s marketing specialist and Game-A-Thon coordinator. She will be working closely with the folks at PiF^2 throughout the Game-A-Thon! Have fun Creating, Competing, and Giving to help fight hunger this November!
