The Twin Cities Geek 2021 Holiday Toy & Book Drive Was a HUGE SUCCESS!

Every year since 2015, we at Twin Cities Geek have organized our Holiday Toy & Book Drive to support the families served by Hallie Q. Brown Community Center and the individuals served by the Women’s Prison Book Project.

Just like in 2020, there was more need for donations than ever because of the hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic, but those same hardships still meant many people weren’t in a position to donate. But once again, an outpouring of generous local businesses and the geek community came through to help meet the need!

We’re thrilled to report that our geek community once again came together in a huge way. The 2021 Twin Cities Geek Holiday Toy & Book Drive drive collected 4,011 toys and gifts and 2,813 books, graphic novels, manga, and comics for a combined grand total of:

6,824 donations!

This included a generous donation of 114 brand new children’s books from Capstone Publishing!

This effort was made possible by a team of 20 volunteers who made deliveries, sorted donations, and helped with content creation over a period of almost two months. This massive project would not be possible every year without geeks in our community going the extra mile.

   Each and every one of you who volunteered, donated, or helped spread the word about this year’s Holiday Toy & Book Drive helped make a difference in someone’s life this holiday season. You all are amazing!

Donations for Families in Need

The donated toys, gifts, and children’s and young-adult books were distributed to children and their families in the Summit-University neighborhood in St. Paul through Hallie Q. Brown Community Center. As in past years, we especially asked you to donate items that would make good gifts for teens, and you came through again, giving all manner of tabletop games, video games, graphic novels, collectibles, YA books, DVDs, and more. This is important, as toy-drive initiatives like Toys for Tots so often focus on gifts for younger children—tots—but we geeks are well aware how much it can mean as a teenager to receive a great gift that reflects our interests, and the income level of our family does not change that simple fact.

So, on behalf of all the young adults whose lives you have touched, Twin Cities Geek would like to extend another extra thank-you for being awesome!

Books for the Women’s Prison Book Project

Of the total donations, we also collected over 1,000 paperback books to donate to the Women’s Prison Book Project in Minneapolis! These will be distributed to women and gender-diverse people currently serving time in prison.

Again, thank you to everyone who donated paperbacks. You have helped people you will probably never meet but for whom something as simple as a book can mean so much. And that is a feeling a lot of us geeks can relate to, regardless of our circumstances.

Special Thanks to Local Business and Organizations

Of course, the 2021 Twin Cities Geek Holiday Toy & Book Drive would not have been possible without the generous support of local geek-friendly businesses and organizations throughout the metro who agreed to host physical and virtual donation boxes for us. Many of them have been participating for multiple years, and we were so happy to have them back again—along with new locations for returning stores and four additional businesses joining us this year for the first time! Many stores also donated to the drive themselves in addition to hosting boxes.

This is a special thank-you to all of them, and we would like to encourage the community to check out these wonderful businesses and organizations throughout the year.

Minneapolis

All Systems Go Games and Movies
158 13th Ave. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413 (Map Link)
(612) 331-0028

Brickmania GHQ
1618 Central Ave. NE, Suite 110
Minneapolis, MN 55413 (Map Link)

Comic Book College
4632 Nicollet Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55419 (Map Link)
(612) 822-2309

Dreamers Vault Games
4701 Hiawatha Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55406 (Map Link)
(612) 724-4543

Duck Duck Coffee
1830 E 38th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55407 (Map Link)
(612) 234-5802

Electric Fetus
2000 4th Ave. S
Minneapolis, MN 55404 (Map Link)
(612) 870-9300

Geek Partnership Society
1121 Jackson St. NE #106
Minneapolis, MN 55413 (Map Link)
(612) 424-2477

Heroic Goods and Games
3458 Minnehaha Ave.
Minneapolis MN 55406 (Map Link)
(612) 200-9354

Hot Comics & Collectibles
4400 Osseo Rd.
Minneapolis, MN 55412 (Map Link)
(763) 593-1223

Knit & Bolt
2833 Johnson St. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418 (Map Link)
(612) 788-1180

Level Up Games
1425 LaSalle Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55403 (Map Link)
(612) 315-3945

Moon Palace Books
3032 Minnehaha Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55406 (Map Link)
(612) 454-0455

Once Upon A Crime 
604 W 26th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55405 (Map Link)
(612) 870-3785

Steamship Coffee & Games
711 W Lake St., Ste. 103
Minneapolis, MN 55408 (Map Link)
(612) 825-4066

Tower Games
3920 Nicollet Ave. #150
Minneapolis, MN 55409 (Map Link)
(612) 823-4477

St. Paul

Mischief Toy Store
818 Grand Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55105 (Map Link)
(651) 493-3307

Red 6 Games (formerly the Gaming Goat)
1326 Grand Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55105 (Map Link)
(651) 690-4628

Red Balloon Bookshop
891 Grand Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55105 (Map Link)
(651) 224-8320

Source Comics & Games
2057 Snelling Ave. N
Roseville, MN 55113 (Map Link)
(651) 645-0386

Wet Paint
1684 Grand Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55105 (Map Link)
(651) 698-6431

North Metro

Blue Sun Soda Shop
1625 County Hwy. 10
Spring Lake Park, MN 55432 (Map Link)
(763) 432-0704

Dreamers Vault Games
11591 Theatre Dr. N
Champlin, MN 55316 (Map Link)
(763) 506-0303

Highlander Games
3015 Coon Rapids Blvd NW
Minneapolis, MN 55433 (Map Link)
(763) 301-4236

The Gamers Den
140 Buchanan St. N #142
Cambridge, MN 55008 (Map Link)
(763) 689-5370

Games By James
327 Rosedale Center #652
Roseville, MN 55113 (Map Link)
(651) 636-0701

Hub Hobby
82 Minnesota Ave.
Little Canada, MN 55117 (Map Link)
(651) 490-1675

Punch-Out Gaming
828 Lake St. S
Forest Lake, MN 55025 (Map Link)
(651) 464-9820

South Metro

Blue Sun Soda Shop
9801 Nicollet Ave.
Bloomington, MN 55420 (Map Link)

Blue Sun Soda Shop
6433 Penn Ave. S
Richfield, MN 55423 (Map Link)
(612) 200-9606

Dreamers Vault Games
14332 Burnhaven Dr.
Burnsville, MN 55306 (Map Link)
(952) 895-1989

Dreamers Vault Games
207 13th Ave. S
South St. Paul, MN 55075 (Map Link)
(651) 200-4374

Galaxy Games (formerly the Gaming Goat)
1095 Diffley Rd.
Eagan, MN 55123 (Map Link)
(651) 797-2670

Gamerheadz
1585 Southdale Center
Edina, MN 55435 (Map Link)
(952) 926-3155

Games By James
1093 Burnsville Center
Burnsville, MN 55306 (Map Link)
(952) 892-1004

Games By James
Mall of America
358 East Broadway
Bloomington, MN 55425 (Map Link)
(952) 854-4747

Games By James
2510 Southdale Center
Edina, MN 55435 (Map Link)
(952) 925-9656

Hot Comics & Collectibles
224 Broadway St. S
Jordan, MN 55352 (Map Link)
(952) 492-7870

Hot Comics & Collectibles
26 W 66th St.
Richfield, MN 55423 (Map Link)
(612) 798-3936

Hub Hobby
6410 Penn Ave. S
Richfield, MN 55423 (Map Link)
(612) 866-9575

Issues Needed Comics
15465 Cedar Ave. #160
Apple Valley, MN 55124 (Map Link)
(952) 683-9339

Mind’s Eye Comics
200 E Travelers Trail, Suite 105
Burnsville, MN 55337 (Map Link)
(952) 492-9350

Tomodachi
Mall of America
384 North Garden
Bloomington, MN 55425 (Map Link)
(952) 582-1739

East Metro

Level Up Games
120 2nd St. E
Hastings, MN 55033 (Map Link)
(651) 346-1631

West Metro

Adventure Loot Games
5221 Shoreline Dr.
Mound, MN 55364 (Map Link)
(612) 876-7789

Cream & Amber
1605 Mainstreet
Hopkins, MN 55343 (Map Link)
(952) 595-5640

Dreamers Vault Games
3015 Utah Ave. S
St. Louis Park, MN 55426 (Map Link)
(952) 938-8163

Games By James
Ridgedale Center
12401 Wayzata Blvd., Level 2
Minnetonka, MN 55305 (Map Link)
(952) 545-6616

Lodestone Coffee and Games
10982 Cedar Lake Rd.
Minnetonka, MN 55305 (Map Link)
(952) 657-5226

Nadia Cakes
11650 Fountains Dr #207
Maple Grove, MN 55369 (Map Link)
(763) 575-8885

---

In closing, one more enormous thank-you to our volunteers and everyone in the Twin Cities geek community who participated in the drive this holiday season!