Hidden Gems: Meet David Seim

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Seim.

Hi David, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
When I was 17, I moved out of my house, The situation at home was not good for me, my father had died 4 years earlier and remarried just before he died. My stepmother didn’t know how to live a kid that wasn’t her own. At first, I lived with my sister, then moved out and found an apartment with a roommate. However, there were times where I found myself without a place to stay but found a place to hang. I was so close to the brink of homelessness.

I was a big video game player and found myself helping for a charity called Extra-Life. It raises money for Children’s Miracle Hospitals. Fast forward a few years and jobs, I am hired as the assistant manager for Hillcrest Platte County. We raise money for the homeless in our community through our thrift shop operations. A few years into my work there, the Platte County health department reached out to HPC to look into opening a facility to help homeless young adults as there was a large increase in the need for housing and helping them. It was going to cost lots of money to convert some of our apartments to dorm-type apartments to help these 17-24-year-olds. During this time I had found a passion for board games.

Now when I say board games I don’t mean Monopoly or life. I’m talking about new and exciting games. Ones that were different every time you played them. Endless strategies and replayability. Miniatures and cards. Rules and most of all fun around a table with friends and family. I thought hey why don’t I do something like Extra-life? A 24-hour fundraiser to help raise money. So in 2 weeks we held a small event and raised $700.00. It wasn’t good enough for me so I spent the whole next year planning g and the next event we raised $5,000.00!

The with help the next year $12,850! We were growing and raising money, then… Covid… we did a virtual event that raised $5,000 but was a struggle. We then last year were able to expand the location our event was held at and we added lots of new events and even had vendors. Even though COVID we raised a record $14,950! It is our hope that we can continue to grow and provide to HPC funds needed to continue to help homeless youth, while at the same time providing Kansas Citians an event to come and have a great time at!

Events that we had last year were Warhammer 40k, Magic the Gathering, Lightsaber Fencing, Miniature Painting, Keyforge tournaments, and boardgame tournaments, to name a few things we had. So far we have been able to keep the event free to attend, the way we make money is through a raffle of donated prizes.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Covid definitely put a dampening my joy last year. It kicked me in the gut pretty hard. So much so that I didn’t want to do Meeple-a-thon this year. However this year we had an amazing team come together and really instill the fire to create this amazing fundraising event.

Every year we look forward to facing the challenges of finding the perfect venue, the perfect events, and team members fill out our planning board and learn how to have the best event yet. Each year so far, and every year coming up has afforded me the opportunity to grow and learn how to do things better!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Meeple-a-thon by Hillcrest Platte County?
Hillcrest Platte County is a 501C3 organization that raises money for the homeless in our community. We offer a hand up not a handout, as we require our residents to work a full-time job and attend budgeting classes to help learn needed life skills they may not have had access to previously. We give them a place to stay so they can get back on their feet.

We also have our Young Adult housing program that takes in kiddos again out of the foster care system as well as homeless youths that need help.

What does success mean to you?
Every time a family or young adult graduates and moves on with their life, I know that I may have had a small part of it. Every year our event grows, changes, and adapts to help give the most possible help to the people in our community who need it most, and being able to help the community grow, thrive, and give new beginnings to people who deserve it – that’s what defines success.

Contact Info:

• Email: meepleathon@gmail.com
• Website: Meepleathon.com
• Instagram: @meeple_a_thon
• Facebook: @wethemeeple
• Twitter: @Meeplethon

Image Credits
Samantha Piel, Meeple-a-thon 2021