Charity

Take This

Crowds, schedules, the immediacy of once-a-year events and other stressors common at conventions and expos can be triggers for many emotional issues, especially anxiety and depression.

The Take This AFK room is a staffed, relaxed space for anyone who feels overwhelmed and needs a place to regain their calm. It is run by local volunteers and clinicians, trained by Take This, to moderate and maintain the atmosphere. We strive to offer education, resources, and a listening ear to convention attendees without verging into offering therapeutic treatment.

The AFK Room Program is more than just a quiet, mental health space. It is a full, comprehensive convention wellness program that operates for convention attendees and convention staff. It’s comprised of three essential factors:

•    Programmatic evaluation
•    Staff wellness and distress intervention training
•    The AFK Room

Desert Bus for Hope

Started in 2007 by internet sketch comedy group LoadingReadyRun, Desert Bus for Hope combines video games and tedium to benefit charity. Desert Bus is the world’s longest running internet-based fundraiser and has raised more than $1.2 million for Child’s Play over its six-year history. This makes it the most successful charity gaming marathon in the world.

MomoCon is happy to provide exclusive items each year to raise money through Desert Bus for Hope, often limited edition signed games, figures, and items from our featured guests! To date, MomoCon items, often signed by our featured voice actor guests and created by some of the excellent craftspeople guests, have raised over $40,000 for Child’s Play!

In 2014, as an example, the super talented Fev Studios worked with MomoCon to create this Avatar the Last Airbender Blue Spirit mask, which was subsequently signed by Dante Basco and Sifu Kisu at MomoCon 2014. The mask was auctioned off for $8000 to benefit Desert Bus.

Charity Row

In addition to the main partner charity organizations, MomoCon also works with many local groups in a Charity Row in the Exhibit Hall, including the Georgia Garrison of the 501ST Legion (raising money for their endowment for the Make a Wish Foundation), Extra Life for Kids, St. Judes, and many others!

Yearly Charity

Each year beginning in 2018, MomoCon selects a yearly charity to focus at-con donations towards and help an organization with a great mission! In 2018 our chosen beneficiary was the Boys and Girls Club. Through the sales of specialty merchandise and custom events with donation elements built in, we were able to raise several thousand dollars for this great group!

Our 2022 official charity is St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital!

Charity Application

MomoCon 2022/2023 Yearly Charity Application

Thank you for the interest in MomoCon’s yearly charity initiative! MomoCon is an animation/gaming/comic convention held in late May in Atlanta, GA, for over 39,000 unique attendees each year (120,000+ turnstile). We are happy to provide an inclusive environment for all fans and friends! MomoCon has been happy to help raise tens of thousands for charities such as Child’s Play, Take This, Children’s Heathcare of Atlanta, Tix for Vets, St. Judes, and the Make a Wish Foundation in previous years. We welcome many charity groups to our event, through partnerships, donations, and our Charity Row section, these opportunities are available while supplies last for the current year’s event. As of 2018 to streamline our internal donation processes, we chose a yearly charity for official MomoCon support. This does not preclude other charities from taking part in other parts of MomoCon. The yearly charity partner will be provided promotional space at the convention and the majority of on-site MomoCon charity fundraising will be in support of this partner. We host several charity events throughout the weekend, including video game stream marathons, karaoke contests and group sing alongs, and other events. We have seen that having volunteers present to educate people has a direct positive impact on the fundraising efforts of our fans.

To participate as a charity partner with MomoCon at any level, we request:

The organization must be a registered non-profit and must submit proof of active 501(c)(3) status.
The following organizations are not eligible for funding:
a. Political organizations
b. Lobby/special interest groups
c. Religious affiliated organization
The organization must have ties, advertising, synergy, or be a direct endemic brand to our communities. This includes programs focusing on literacy (comics), career development in media, fundraising involving games, education, etc. Charities that regularly work with fan events/groups/have fan focuses (i.e. Make a Wish working with the 501st Legion) are also a-ok! Organizations that affect large groups of our attendees are also welcome!
If your charity intends to host giveaways or raffles, please make sure you obtain appropriate licenses and follow the applicable laws and regulations while at MomoCon (https://www.fultonsheriff.org/raffle-license.html). MomoCon will not hold any licences or permissions on behalf of a partner charity organization.

While we do not have the space or ability to host all qualified charity organizations, we are happy to do what we can!

Coming up…