Give Comics Hope, Binc Partner to Help Comics Shops

Give Comics Hope, a new nonprofit fund raising initiative designed to provide financial support to direct market comics shops suffering under the pandemic, has been organized by former Diamond Comics v-p Bill Schanes in partnership with the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.

Give Comics Hope is issuing an appeal to the comics community, including publishers, creators, retailers fans, production and the media, to donate collectible artwork for two forthcoming benefit auctions. Give Comics Hope’s charitable efforts are focused on two auctions designed to raise funds to be distributed to comic book shops beginning in 2021. The first auction will be conducted by Heritage Auctions between October 2, 2020 8 and November 11, 2020.  This initial auction will include works donated by Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, legendary artist Bill Sienkiewicz, artist P. Craig Russell, artist Colleen Doran, and many others.

More information on the fundraising auctions can be found on the Give Comics Hope website.

The second auction will be hosted by Jesse James Comics/Comic Book Shopping Network in partnership with eBay. The auction will be held between November 11 and Friday December 11, 2020. Give Comics Hope is partnering with the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) to oversee the management and distribution of the funds raised by Give Comics Hope.  

“Comic book shops are our local community centers, a safe place, a place where like minded fans gather on a weekly basis to pick up all of the latest and greatest comic books and related products” says Bill Schanes, founder of Give Comics Hope and a now-retired v-p at Diamond Comics Distributors, where he worked for 30 years. “Dig into your collection and select 5 items you feel have a perceived value of $100 or more for each item. The more you donate, the more funds will be available to give to your local comic book shop,” he said.

Binc Foundation executive director Pam French said, “We are honored to work with Bill and his team of passionate volunteers to further help comic book stores during this unprecedented time. We know the funds raised from this visionary initiative will help neighborhood comic shops continue to serve their customers and their communities.”