BINC stands for the Book Industry Charitable Foundation and it marked its 30th Anniversary this year. As part of the celebration a gala benefit was held last week which I was lucky enough to attend.
If you are just a regular comics reader, you might not know about Binc. But if you are a comics shop … you should. The Binc Foundation’s mission is to help “bookstore and comic shop employees and owners with unforeseen emergency financial, medical, and mental health service needs.”
Although it was founded to help bookstores, it has added comics shops to its mission over the years, and its help has been called for and delivered. BINC has helped comic shops during COVID and the California wildfires, and in other situations of unique distress. It has worked closely with ComicsPRO to help stores in need. And it’s not just stores: individual shops employees are also able to request assistance with medical and mental health services.
I want to highlight the mental health services that Binc offers: “Binc is pleased to offer access to professional therapy with a licensed therapist to eligible booksellers and comic retailers. The first step is to get in touch with Binc using the simple and easy application.” You can find that application in the link above.
Binc’s services to comic shops are run through program organizer Judey Kalchik, who is a welcome regular at industry functions, talking about BINC’s services and how to donate. You can learn more about what she does at this interview at Publishers Weekly. Judey is an awesome person and I’m happy to have gotten to know her at various comics events.
The gala was a great way to celebrate the organization and what it does – and to raise more money for it. The emcee was author Emma Straub, who is also a bookstore owner. Speakers included authors Ann Patchett and Amor Towles, as well as Binc CEO Pamela French and keynote speaker Dominique Reccah of Sourcebooks.The evening started though with a video greeting from Barack Obama who praised the organization for what it does, and mentioned “aiding bookstores and comic shops” – I have to admit I felt really good hearing our former president mentioning comics shops!
It is notable that comic shops are being recognized more and more as indie bookstores and not just oddball nerd hangouts (although they are also that.) It’s great that Binc and Obama both mention them separately though, as a proud and distinct kind of bookstore.
Marco Davanzo, the Executive Director ComicsPRO was honored with the “Unsung Hero Award,” and I learned a lot about Marco from the presentation of the award by Kuo Yu Liang and (via video) Filip Sablik of Ignition Press. I did not know that he is a Princeton grad who worked in finance until he opened his shop, Alakazam Comics in Irvine, Calif. To me he is just the guy who I anxiously contact when I need info about ComicsPRO, and also the guy who keeps everything running and looks totally knackered at the end of an event. But he’s a lot more, and very deserving of the award. Marco was very humble in accepting, which is also totally in character for him.
So why was I at the gala? I was invited to cover the event to write about it, as you are reading, and also to meet more Binc personnel and to learn more about what they do to help stores….and what you can do to help.
We’ve all read about various disasters hitting our favorite comics store – a car going through the front window, or a burst pipe destroying inventory are two oddly frequent ones. When there’s a natural disaster, Binc can help. An mentioned above, Binc can help individual employees as well, not just owners. And not just when a car crashes through a window, but with more personal matters.
Shelf Awareness has a lengthy write up on the 30th Anniversary (Which I urge you all to read) and includes a story from Joe Murray, owner of Blue Hen Comics and president of ComicsPRO:
“When my daughter was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis a few years ago it was hard enough navigating the impact it had on her and our family,” he said. “The first medication she was given was inexpensive but made her nauseous. Finding something that worked meant an $8,000 monthly bill. Without Binc, we wouldn’t have made it through the first year.”
For him, “Binc support is like a weighted blanket. It provides financial assistance, but it also surrounds you.” He recalled Binc’s help in getting access to online financial tools, My Medical Journal to track a complex medical condition, the resources to negotiate down high medical bills and help pay the copays for a costly medication. “It’s hard to fight the fight alone. It takes a village and Binc is a big part of that village. It’s very comforting to know someone has your back.”
Murray, who is the board president of ComicsPRO, uses every opportunity to spread the word about Binc and offer his support. “You can do everything right and things can still go wrong,” he said. “There’s no shame in asking for help.”
Binc is indeed part of our comics village. We all need bookstores and comic shops – as a place to buy cool stuff, as community, and sometimes they need more help.
What else can you do? Of course you can donate to Binc.
The comics industry has been helping. In the past Lion Forge was particularly generous; and Mad Cave Studios was a sponsor of the gala. Many Humble Bundles include Binc as one of the charities supported by the bundles (a program which has raised more than $1 million). The recent Action Comics #1 sale we wrote about gave part of its proceeds to Binc, the Hero Initiative and the CBLDF. And more is being done, but more will always need to be done.
You’ll hopefully see a team-up between the Beat and Binc in the near future, (plans are afoot) but in the meantime, please put Binc on the list of charities that are essential for comics, whether via a donation…or in asking for help.
And they also throw a heck of a gala! It was held at the Prince George Ballroom, a mysterious and historic building I have passed hundreds of times but never went inside. The ceiling did not disappoint! I mingled with a bunch of comics and publishing pals, and the food was excellent. And no, I don’t attend too many charity galas, but whenever I do, I always worry that a supervillain will attack since almost every superhero film includes a scene set at a gala where a supervillain attacks.
Luckily, that did not happen this time. You can read more about the evening at Shelf Awareness, but I’ll end with the theme for the gala: Think Binc!
