Giving Back Magazine May 2019 | Page 66

where students can learn to draw, paint, create costumes, develop their own comic books and graphic novels, experiment with stop-motion animation, robotics and other cutting-edge technologies that support more than 10-percent of all jobs in California. On a community impact level, a recent study by The Center for Applied Research at UC San Diego estimated the Comic- Con Museum will bring $154 million of economic impact to the local economy annually, supporting 9,132 jobs. In economic terms this is broadly equivalent to adding a second Comic-Con, spread across the year. The Museum is planned to open in Spring 2021, contingent on completion of a $35 million capital campaign, into which Comic-Con invested the first $11 million. This year, fundraising efforts are being taken up a notch with the Museum’s inaugural fundraising event on July 17, 2019 – the opening night of the 50th San Diego Comic-Con. The star-studded event will be held on all three floors of the Museum’s future location, previewing of the kinds of exhibits and experiences that will be permanently housed in the future. This fundraising event, titled “The Gathering”, has scored a major coup by landing DC Entertainment as its lead sponsor, allowing the event to be themed as a celebration of the 80th anniversary of the caped crusader himself: Batman. Expect to see costumed characters, movie props, movie cars and famous celebrities, in addition to 66 GBSAN.COM | MAY 2019 themed food and drink and a ceremony honoring Batman as the first inductee into the Comic-Con Museum’s Character Hall of Fame. Joining the event’s lead sponsor DC Entertainment is US Bank as the presenting sponsor. Other sponsors at the time of writing include Chosen Foods, Sycuan Casino & Resort, Kaiser Permanente and after party sponsor Brain Corp. Sponsorship packages are available now. The event promises to be one of the event highlights of the summer, and a fun way to support the construction of the Comic-Con Museum and related education programs. Join us and be part of the historic event that will help launch San Diego’s newest tourist attraction, and the first new museum in Balboa Park in a generation. www.CCMGathering.org