As February gets under way, we would traditionally be turning our attention to Hoop & Stick Con, our annual gaming convention and fundraiser for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. As we announced back in November though, due to the ongoing pandemic we had decided not to hold any of our traditional winter events – including Hoop & Stick Con 2021.

While we hated to miss out on all of our Winter events, the loss of Hoop & Stick Con hit perhaps the hardest. This would have been the ninth annual Hoop & Stick Con, and its absence would mark the first year since we purchased Ravenwood without a fundraiser for children’s hospitals.

That is, if we weren’t planning on raising funds for Children’s Hospitals even without the convention.

While the absence of the convention means we are unlikely to match our previous years’ fundraising achievements, we want to do our best to come close. To that end, we are announcing the following:

Room Rental Donations – each year during Hoop & Stick Con, Ravenwood Castle donates 50% of the room rentals for the duration of the event. Though there will be no event this year, we will still be donating 50% of room rentals for the extended weekend of February 25th through 27th, the originally intended date of Hoop & Stick Con 2021.

Online Donation Drive – on the Hoop & Stick Con page, we have launched an online donation drive. Visit the page, click the Make a Donation button, and your tax deductible contribution will go straight to Extra Life and Children’s Miracle Network! We have had an online donation drive in prior years, but it is usually secondary to our convention based fundraising efforts. This year we are asking our long time convention alumni to consider directly donating the funds they would normally have spent on tickets and our silent auction. And of course, everyone else is welcome to donate as well. To that end…

Donation Matching – in order to encourage online donations, Ravenwood Castle will be matching individual donations made before February 27th, 2021. We will match up to $250 per donation, up to a total of $5,000. To ensure your donation is matched, please make sure you do NOT select the option to make your donation “anonymous”. You do not need to show your name publicly or add a public message if you do not wish to do so.

So if you would like to help raise money for sick children, head on over to the Hoop & Stick Con page and make a donation!

Finally, a quick update about events in general. We are closely monitoring the state of the pandemic, as well as guidance from appropriate government and health agencies. We have a slate of exciting events that we are eager to share with you, and look forward to announcing them as soon as we can responsibly do so. Stay tuned!

Jim Reed

Jim Reed is a lifelong gamer who started with the original red box Dungeons & Dragons. After spending 20 years in the corporate world, he decided it was high time that work be fun and struck out on his own. Jim now owns and operates Ravenwood Castle, and spends his days ensuring his guests have as much fun as he does.