When we founded the Geek Market in 2012 one of our goals was to donate as much money as possible to our local community. Since our inception we’ve proudly raised $28,291.76 for local charities, donated $16,766 in admission tickets, and awarded $8,000 in arts scholarships. We’ve also donated $3,750 to local geeky community groups and offered free admission to thousands of children 12 years of age and younger.

We’re proudly supporting The Royal Mental Health Centre at our upcoming event this fall.

Here’s how we’ve donated money at our past events:

Supporting Local Community Groups

In spring 2017 we donated $750 some of Ottawa’s most devoted geeky community groups (be sure to click on their name to either bring you to a short bio about their group or to link to their website):

These groups selflessly fundraise for amazing charities, provide hours of entertainment at the Geek Market and other local events, and volunteer their own time and money to create some of the best geeky ambiance the region has to offer.

Charitable Donations

Over the years, we’ve proudly supported local charities that we felt our patrons would either benefit from or that were in line with their own interests. Here are the various charities that we’ve donated money to:

Scholarships

When it came time to choose a charitable focus for our October 2015 event we wanted something “future”-themed since our event was taking place the same month that Marty and Doc travel to the future in Back to the Future II. And then it dawned on us…there’s no future to our fandoms if there aren’t any artists to make them. And voila! The Ottawa Geek Market Arts Scholarship Program was born, and we’ve been doing it ever since.

  • For our October 2015 event, we ran a visual arts competition and gave $1,000 scholarships to three very deserving local artists in the categories of cosplay, 2D art, and 3D art.
  • For our April 2016 event, we ran a short-story writing competition and gave $1,000 scholarships to three very talented writers in the categories of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.
  • For our October 2016 event, we ran a cosplay accessories competition and gave $1,000 scholarships to two amazing cosplay artists in the categories of jewellery and other accessories.

Donated Admission Tickets

In April 2017, we offered free admission to first responders, military, and nurses as our way of saying thanks for keeping us safe. 142 of them joined us amounting to $1,136 in admission.

In March 2015, we hosted a super hero-themed event and chose TEMA: Because Heroes Are Human (an organization devoted to helping first responders deal with mental health issues that they acquired on the job) as our receiving charity. To demonstrate our support to these real life superheroes, we welcomed first responders, military, and correctional officers with free access to our event, which amounted to $15,630 in admission tickets.