What is GISH?

GISH, the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen, is a wacky, weird international online-based scavenger hunt. GISHers spend one week on a team of 15 individuals, racing to compete while they complete a 200+ list of projects. Points matter to some. Fun matters to all.

Photo by Rachel McLain Browne

Celebrating its tenth year, GISH had two day-long mini-hunt events during Covid-19 quarantine in late winter/early spring 2020. Members are now currently entangled in the week-long event which runs August 1 to August 8, 2020.

Photo by Joelle Marioni

Actor/Activist Misha Collins, angel Castiel on the hit CW series, Supernatural, launched GISH ten years ago as a fundraising event to complement the non-profit RandomActs.org. Collins is the co-founder and Board president of Random Acts, which was founded in 2009.

THE GISH LIST

Photo by Kim Schell

From the eclectic to the profound, the GISH LIST has a large range of appeal. Individuals are encouraged to express themselves in ways that challenge and inspire. As members of team, they cheer and assist others. Per the Commandments of GISH, the last commandment states the following:

“Life Lessons. Be kind. Be precise. Be flippant. Be creative. Be courageous. Be shameless. Be GISH.”

Photo by Laura L. Roberts

Some of the list items from the previous hunt challenge were eccentric, ie. carving a couch out of a potato. A couch potato! Other items promoted social causes. I shared resource information for at-risk LGBTQ+ youth on my social media platforms.

MY GISH EXPERIENCE

This is my first year experiencing GISH. I registered for the first mini-hunt during the initial time of quarantine. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Social isolation and growing fear of the unknown virus led me to seek out opportunities for distraction.

Photo by Laura Hull

I was placed on Team UnbrielievablyGouda! We are an international team, with players from both the United States and Canada. I’m awestruck of my team members for their creativity, kindness, and project management skills! Though many of us have never met in person, we are a team held together by technology and common humanity.

Photo by Jen van Overbeeke

What GISH means to me is that I am now a part of something bigger. I am not crafty. Complicated crafts projects, for me, creates unreasonable pain and suffering. I encourage others to shine in art while I focus on social justice items. During the second mini-hunt, I embraced the racial justice dialogue. I am listening and learning.

Photo by Rachel McLain Browne

JOIN THE FUN!

Photo by Jen van Overbeeke

The cost for the week-long hunt this year was $25.00. Every registration provides meals for 15 children in need, impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. In addition, there are also list items that raise money and awareness for a myriad of charitable causes.

The last mini-hunt raised over $200,000 for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

This hunt, I became aware of an app called Be My Eyes, which connects blind and low vision users with sighted volunteers.

When you join GISH, you not only play for fun, you play for good. Learn more at gish.com.