Why Are Games and Puzzles Worth Passing Forward?

Games move well through the network because they cost real money new, they are used constantly by the organizations requesting through the Give ME Books program, and almost nobody thinks to donate them.

A Chicago winter is long enough to finish a 1,000-piece puzzle. Twice. Which is exactly why the closet fills up. January through March is four months of indoor evenings in this city, and every household ends up with a stack of games that got played hard for one winter and then sat for the next six.

After-school programs need games. Senior centers run puzzle tables all winter. Shelters with a common room need something for the hours between dinner and lights out. Community centers plan whole afternoons around a box of games and a folding table. Meanwhile yours is under a bed in Edgewater, holding still.

What Games Does Give My Books Network Collect in Chicago?

Give My Books Network collects games of nearly every kind, and they can share a box with your books, discs, and records.

• Board games, family and strategy, old and new
• Jigsaw puzzles, any piece count
• Card games and standard card decks
• Children's games and first-player games
• Word games, trivia, and party games
• Video games and consoles, if they are in the pile too

No sorting required. Local Pick-Up Partners handle all of that offsite after collection, which is why an evening spent separating games from books is an evening spent for nothing.

What If a Puzzle Is Missing Pieces?

A puzzle missing one or two pieces is still a puzzle. Somebody will do it and be mildly annoyed at the end, and that is the whole cost. A puzzle missing forty pieces has genuinely reached the end of the line.

Board games are more forgiving than people assume. Missing money from a game everyone has played a hundred times? Replaceable. A missing rulebook? The rules are online. But a game missing its board, or missing the dice and half the pieces, is a different story.

The useful move is a note. A piece of tape on the lid that says 'missing 2 pawns' takes five seconds and saves your Local Pick-Up Partner a lot of guesswork. Nobody is grading you on it. It simply helps.

How Do I Box Games Without Losing the Little Bits?

Tape each game box shut before it goes in the shipping box, and bag any loose pieces first. Game boxes are the worst-designed containers in any home, and the lids come off if you look at them sideways.

Puzzles especially, since a puzzle box that pops open in transit turns into a problem for every other item riding with it. Then pack everything into boxes or sturdy bags, well packed and not too heavy.

And to be clear: you pack the games. The Local Pick-Up Partner does not bring boxes. That has caught people out before, so plan the packing into your evening rather than your service day.

Setting Out on Your Chicago Service Day

Leave everything in a safe, dry spot starting at 8 AM, and a Local Pick-Up Partner collects between 8 AM and 8 PM. You do not need to be home.

Enter your ZIP code first. If a partner serves it, you can book a service day right away. If nobody serves it yet, the request enters the out-of-area pickup system, where nearby partners may claim it.

Over in Rogers Park, the right spot tends to be the vestibule of a courtyard building or the covered landing at the back. Anywhere that keeps cardboard away from snow. That last point is not a small one with games, because a soaked game box loses its shape and takes the board with it. If you are staging boxes near an entry off Ashland Avenue on a slushy March day, keep them up off the ground.

Where the Games Land After a Chicago Pickup

Local Pick-Up Partners sort everything at their own workspace after collection. Many items are redistributed to readers, schools, libraries, nonprofits, and organizations that request items through the Give ME Books program. Some are resold by the partner, which is what keeps the pickup free for everyone.

Items that cannot be reused may eventually be recycled as a last resort. Books and games often travel to the same places, which makes sense once you see the request lists. The American Library Association's guide to book donation programs is a good primer on how community organizations think about what they can actually use.

Tape the lids. Pick a day with Give My Books Network. Set them out. Somebody has a long winter coming and nothing to fill it with.