From an annoucement by Multiverse Asheville:

A local organization of pop-culture fans is holding a charity gala December 9 to help raise awareness and money to improve the quality of life in children’s hospitals worldwide.

Multiverse Asheville will host a charity gala to 100% benefit Child’s Play, a worldwide organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for patients in children’s hospitals. The event, which is intended to become annual, will take place at the recently-opened Club Metropolis on North Lexington Avenue, December 9 at 8:30 PM.

Guests are encouraged to dress up; prizes will be awarded for best costume, tackiest holiday sweater, and fanciest dresser. Festivities will feature Asheville’s first costumed character auction, where partygoers will be able to bid on costumed representations of their favorite fictional characters, and performances by Atlanta chiptune artist Nestrogen and Hendersonville fusion band Men on Earth. A dance party will follow until 2 AM.

Notable guests will include representatives from the 501st Garrison and Rebel Legion Star Wars costuming clubs, as well as many other costumed characters from film, television, and literature. Local businesses such as ZaPow! Gallery and The Hop Ice Cream Cafe will be on-hand as well to support the event.

Multiverse Asheville was founded in August 2011 as a way to coordinate and support socialization among local fans of comics, games, and costuming, as well as to promote locally-operated businesses that support the subculture. In three months, the group has grown to represent nearly 500 active fans and dozens of businesses.

Child’s Play (www.childsplaycharity.org) is a charitable organization founded in 2003 by the popular webcomic Penny Arcade to improve the lives of sick children by donating toys and games to hospitals worldwide. The charity is also seen as a way to refute the mainstream media's perception of gamers as violent or antisocial. Through Child's Play, donors have sent over ten million dollars in toys, games and books to children's hospitals all over the world.

Says Multiverse founder Ken Krahl, “So many of these hospitals are donation-run and are obligated to spend their limited budget on medical care, instead of toys and games. As fans, we can appreciate how big a difference being able to play can make to a child, especially during a difficult time.”

For more on this organization, point your web browser to: www.multiverseavl.com