Catalyst Game Labs Donates Board Games to Lowell Nonprofits
Lowell nonprofits have put their board game donations to good use. Tyson Hoffman, the Childcare Director at Litehouse Family YMCA, has handed out board games to participants in the nonprofit’s various children’s programs, and Shannon Jammal-Hollemans, the Pastor at First Congregational UCC of Lowell, reported that the church is selling board games, at a cost of $10 per game, with proceeds going toward youth programming.
By Justin Tiemeyer || contributing writer - 2/20/2024
Just prior to Christmas, a number of local nonprofit organizations received something extra on their doorsteps, stacks and stacks of board games for them to use however they please, for programs, gifts, or even fundraisers. Organizations, including Litehouse Family YMCA and First Congregational UCC of Lowell, received these games from Catalyst Game Labs (CGL), a company best known for tabletop games like Shadowrun and BattleTech. Rem Alternis is the community and marketing director for CGL.
In early 2023, Loren Coleman, the owner and CEO of CGL, came to Alternis with an inventory report showing a number of so-called “red line” titles. These are slow-selling titles that the company had too much stock of, but they were taking up warehouse space that could be used for other products. “He’s like, ‘Figure out what to do with them,’” Alternis said. “‘If we can’t figure anything out, chip ‘em.’”
For Alternis, throwing these games away was not an option. Among her duties as community and marketing director are social media management, marketing, public relations, press releases, content creation, live streaming, community safety, community building, and event planning, and all of these hats she wears require her to interact with the public. She is also the founder and owner of Rem Alternis Productions, which uses Discord, Twitch, YouTube, and several podcasting platforms to create a safe space for people to play games and talk about gaming. Alternis had built so many partnerships over the years that she reached out to her community to see who could take these games off of her hands. “Because I’ve been able to go to so many conventions this year and connect with so many people, it reaches a lot of people,” Alternis said.
Slowly, Alternis started facilitating shipments to libraries, including board game-specific libraries, and hospitals. She sent games to Tabletop Gaymers, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion by raising the visibility of LGBTQIA+ people in the tabletop gaming community. She also set up an agreement with Monster Fight Club, where every customer who purchases $500 of product receives a CGL board game and a coupon toward the store. “Really, the goal is to move this product to people who can use it,” Alternis said. “It’s just sitting there eating money, which is why we need to move it.”
Alternis came up with the idea of donating excess stock to charity after meeting members of Extra Life at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio. Extra Life is a fundraising program for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, wherein gamers live-stream gameplay during a 24-hour marathon to raise funds for critical life-saving treatments, healthcare services, innovative research, vital pediatric medical equipment, and child-life services. Following this event, the wheels were turning for Alternis, and she considered donating games to the Make a Wish Foundation or children’s hospitals around the nation.
Alternis has shipped games to Colorado, California, Virginia, Atlanta, Georgia, and now Lowell, Michigan, but there are still thousands of units in the warehouse. Her work to date has only just scratched the surface.
Some games work better for marketing purposes. For example, Alternis held onto some core Shadowrun games, the bread and butter of CGL, thinking streamers could give these away on stream in order to promote their content. Additionally, CGL shipped about 1500 board games to the Gen Con tabletop gaming convention in Indianapolis. They handed out a puzzle to everyone who bought a Shadowrun: Sixth World Core Rulebook, Beginner Box, or Sixth World Companion and a board game to anyone who played a Shadowrun demo game. “We were out of them at the end of the week,” Alternis said.
Lowell nonprofits have put their board game donations to good use. Tyson Hoffman, the Childcare Director at Litehouse Family YMCA, has handed out board games to participants in the nonprofit’s various children’s programs, and Shannon Jammal-Hollemans, the Pastor at First Congregational UCC of Lowell, reported that the church is selling board games, at a cost of $10 per game, with proceeds going toward youth programming.
Where other organizations have used these games to promote LGBTQIA+ inclusion and hospitalized children, First Congregational UCC’s primary goal is to support a mission trip to Memphis, Tennessee, where youth will serve the underprivileged and learn about the racial divide in the United States. Not only is Memphis the second largest majority black city in the nation (after Detroit), but it is also the home of the Lorraine Motel, where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in 1968. The hotel was converted into the National Civil Rights Museum in 1991. “We are just so grateful for this,” Jammal-Hollemans said. “We have already sold more than a dozen games.”
First Congregational UCC of Lowell still has over 100 copies of board games, such as I Would Fight the Dragon, Aldr the High Sage, and Our Cartoon President: THE GAME, for purchase. The games, which typically range from $11.99 to $29.99, are available for $10 each. Those interested in purchasing a game, either because it looks fun or because you are interested in supporting the church’s youth program, may contact First Congregational UCC via phone at 616-897-5906 or via email at info@lowellucc.org.
As for Rem Alternis and CGL, there are still many games to unload, and some of those games may end up in the hands of Lowell area charities and nonprofits.
