Cheeky card game Go Bum connects philanthropy and family

Father-and-son duo Evan and Levi Turner never thought their love of good, clean fun (and bum-themed humour) would become a part of a philanthropic cause.

But when Evan was looking for a creative activity for then seven-year-old Levi during the 2020 COVID lockdown, Go Bum was born—a cheeky version of Go Fish where you match different kinds of (family friendly) bums to win—and with it a hope to do something good in the world.

“We brainstormed lots of different kinds of bums that we could think of—like a stinky bum and a golden bum—and then we picked our favourites and drew them up. It was great getting to show him [Levi] some things about brainstorming and using the computer to make copies of images, it was a great learning experience,” says Evan.

“And we made it, played it, and had a great time doing both. Then our friends and family eventually started asking for their own copies, which was amazing. But the big thing was when the Little Village Markets down at Gordon Community Centre came along in 2021.”

Bringing the perfect amount of (clean) cheekiness that the whole family can enjoy, Levi and Evan printed 100 copies of Go Bum. Putting his business skills to the test at the kids’ market for kids, Levi sold lots of copies of the game and ended up raising $100 for the Australian Koala Foundation (and a small donation for the Gordon Community Centre in the process).

A proud parent moment for Evan, now the pair are planning to take their game up to the next level and start selling the game professionally—but their ultimate goal is to keep raising funds to help endangered koalas.

“When we made Go Bum, it was not long after the devasting 2020 bushfires that summer and we kind of knew that koala numbers had been in a long-term decline. And hearing about how terrible the fires were for koalas, we wanted to do something to help them.”

They launched a Kickstarter campaign on Wednesday 9 November—which will run for 28 days—Levi and Evan are hoping that the Canberra community can get behind them so they can start printing Go Bum on a larger scale. They’ve currently raised enough to plant 160 trees and are 89% funded—incredibly close to their $5,000 target.

Giggle Guaranteed by Evan and Levi, they promise that the whole family will have a great time playing their game.

“It’s such a great game, and it sounds silly, but it’s our way to try and make a difference in the world and bring some smiles to faces,” says Evan.

But will there be more tongue-in-cheek games in the future from this philanthropic family?

“I’d like to do the same for Margaret—our daughter—so she gets a chance to do a fun project like this,” says Evan,

“She wants to do it on rainbows, butterflies, and flowers. That was the theming that she was most interested in.”

For more information visit their Kickstarter page.

Article originally posted by HerCanberra and written by Erin Cross