For many 10 year olds, playing video games is a chance to avoid chores and homework, but for Saddle River resident Henry Maw, it was an opportunity to develop and market a game app and give back by donating 20 percent of the proceeds to two charities.

Last year while playing a video game on his ipod, Henry's father, Bill, suggested that "instead of playing video games, why don't you create one" after noticing the amount of time his two sons spent playing these games.

Not thinking much of the idea, Bill Maw left his son to his game, never anticipating that the half-joke would soon introduce his son to the world of business and philanthropic causes.

"MonkeyBerry" beginnings

Though he knew his dad was joking, Henry said "it just stuck. I went downstairs and I started sketching."

But after a web search, he found his sketch, a memory game, had already been created, "but there are a lot of those, so I just kept trying," he said.

His second idea came from his own memories and personal favorites.

This idea features a monkey who travels through three different levels and in each, has to catch berries but has to avoid coconuts and lava balls. On each level there is an easy, medium and hard level for a total amount of nine levels.

"You get 5,000 points to move on [to the next level]," Henry said. "Each berry is worth 1,000 points. If you get hit by a coconut, you lose 3,000 points."

He added a player, ranging from age 4 and older, travels from Berry Beach to Forest of Fire, "where you have to jump a lot to avoid the lava balls."

He explained that monkeys are his favorite animal and he ate berries a lot when he was younger, add those and a few childhood memories of TV shows featuring falling coconuts, and a game was soon born.

After 10 months of designing and developing the game, "MonkeyBerry" now has its place in the Apple iTunes app store for 99 cents to be used on smartphones.

But it wasn't an easy process. Henry and his dad had to learn about the business and consider the costs and benefits of pursing such an idea.

"[Henry] was proactive in doing something," Bill Maw said. "He showed me his drawing sketch and wanted to pursue it further and I thought, 'how do people make apps?' so we explored the process, found a website that would put us in touch with three [U.S.] developers and then we did phone interviews, reading out the description."

Henry said they rated the developers on several things, including price and quality.

"The price bit was certainly a factor," Bill Maw said. "It was a big investment."

He said after Henry did the first interview he was "really excited, and that was the turning point for me. I needed to really see his level of commitment: It was a year-long project, he needed to be interested and keep that interest, because he's a kid, they often lose it quickly and so that was a concern of mine."

The person they chose had the "best quality, price and I wanted to know how much time he'd put into it, and he fit the best," Henry said.

His father said the developer also had a fixed fee "which was quite pleasant, as it is always a bit of a gamble."

The process took approximately seven months of emailing back and forth before "we launched around October," Bill Maw said.

But one issue they had couldn't be solved so quickly.

"The bugs," Henry said. "The game wouldn't always work."

Bill Maw added that was another concern, "you don't want to create an app that people can't use. You think, 'oh no, what now?'"

But to their relief, the game is now bug-free and has been selling on iTunes around the world, prompting the Maws to think more philanthropic than just entrepreneurial.

Giving to charity

Though neither father nor son could remember who suggested it first, both agreed that giving a percentage of the proceeds to charity would add more meaning to the app.

The two charities chosen, Table to Table and Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), are already familiar in the Maw household.

Henry said he chose the two because his mom and dad participate in the two charities.

Bill Maw said the brokerage firm he works for, Liquidnet, "is very philanthropic, so I think Henry also heard about the work we did and wanted to help."

He added that he and his wife, Tara, are also active in Table to Table.

"The game is 99 cents so 10 percent would go to each [charity]," Henry said. "A lot [of people] ask why don't I wanna keep all the money ... I [donate] it because, well, I know it's the right thing to do."

The Maws have what Bill Maw described as "an audacious goal. We want to sell half a million apps, which would provide $100,000 to the charities, and that's a good goal, with $50,000 to Table to Table, they could buy another truck, another truck means they can provide even more food to those who need it. With $50,000 to the Rwanda charity, it would be a substantial contribution."

Table to Table, in northern New Jersey, is a community-based food rescue program that serves the hungry in Bergen, Hudson, Essex and Passaic counties. Fresh food is collected and delivered free of charge to more than 50 agencies throughout the area, the Table to Table website states. These include drug rehab centers, homeless shelters, elder care facilities, HIV day centers, pantries serving the "working poor" and homes for victims of domestic violence.

"Those donations will certainly help us. We're thrilled and impressed with the intelligence, creativity and kind heart of this young boy," said Ilene Isaacs, executive director of Table to Table. "You don't always see all three of those things in people. But I'm not surprised - he comes from a wonderful family."

She said that the rescue program plans on "donating 8.5 million meals this year and that's right here in our local communities. We look to many different sources to help us be able to do that and it's a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to donate all those meals. We feed people at a cost to our organization, so anything raised has the opportunity to make a tremendous impact."

Isaacs added that "Bill and Tara Maw have been tremendous supporters and we're thrilled to have them. It's rewarding to know that they have passed on their belief of what we do here to their son, and Henry has done such a nice job."

The second charity, ASYV, is a residential community in rural Rwanda that shelters youth who had been orphaned during and after the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

The Village is designed to "care for, protect and nurture these young people. It is a place of hope, where 'tears are dried' (signified by the Kinyarwanda word agahozo) and where the aim is to live in peace (from Hebrew, shalom). The marrying of these two languages and concepts in the name of the Village is intended as a reminder of the success of similar efforts in Israel, where genocide also changed the face of a nation," the ASYV website states.

"We are an organization that serves youth and so we're extremely pleased and encouraged," said Tamar Copeland, executive director of ASYV in New York. "It's terrific when it comes from another youth. We serve some of the most underserved kids in the world based on circumstance more than anything else, and when another kid steps up and makes a contribution to change, it is a profoundly encouraging opportunity for us."

She added that "there's a place for everyone who wants to contribute, and every gift matters mostly because of the intent. So when other kids step up it makes us feel like we're getting the word out and the message across."

Bill Maw said the ASYV "is an amazing charity."

Liquidnet gives money each year to the ASYV, and the funds have gone to support the group homes, computer facilities, community center and high school. The firm helped launch the ASYV and continues to be actively involved, highlighting it as a "signature project" on its website and includes ways in which the firm helps sustain the Village, including charity races, management support and bringing teams of employees and their family members to Rwanda to volunteer time and skills to the ASYV.

Bill Maw said he's gone to Rwanda to volunteer and now Henry wants to travel there, too.

"It's an important thing to learn, children today, to give back. Especially when Henry can give back to children who may be around his own age, I think that's a reason why he wants to go there, to see how the money has helped."

The Maws also created Apps4Impact, to encourage other app developers and sellers to make a social impact or donate a portion of its proceeds to charitable causes.

Henry, who is in fifth grade, said his school, Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, also does charity events, so it's already on his mind.

"We're very impressed with Henry," said Head of School David Lowry. "He's serious but fun-loving, and we're pleased to see that he will be donating a portion of the proceeds to two great charities. It's a real reflection of him and the school."

He added that the school also has a technology program built into the curriculum and he hopes it will inspire other students as well.

Going Global

Bill Maw said since the app's launch, it's gotten good reviews, which has helped them try to reach a broader, wider audience.

"AppCraver gave us 8 out of 10, which is really great. I like them because they're an independent site. I believe we've gotten 10 high reviews," he said. "It's not a sophisticated game. It's pretty much for anyone, but we've come to realize it's all about marketing, as there are so many apps out there, what makes this one work?"

He said a few things have helped so far, one of them is iTunes.

"You really have global distribution," he said. "It's quite an unique ecosystem in iTunes."

So far, the app has been sold in Australia, Mexico, Croatia and other places around the world.

Henry also got the chance to be interviewed live on FOX Business News due to his "MonkeyBerry" app, and taped for the AppAttack section of FOX.com.

Bill Maw said getting those opportunities was "all about luck" but that once the business interview took place, "it all came together."

"It was a once in a lifetime experience," he added.

Henry said he thinks he wants to continue on this business path.

"We have some ideas, but we want to finish this project first," he said.

The three things Bill Maw said he's taken from this experience as a parent is the value of having an entrepreneurial perspective.

"An idea can take you very far if you're willing to put the work into it, but it's harder to market than I think it is to create, anyone can create but it's hard to sell," he said. "So that's certainly a value he learned - marketing."

The second is philanthropy, "there's a bit of luck attached to an industry in its success. Henry wanting to give back will hopefully have an impact and he learns more about what's around him, not just locally but globally."

"The third is commitment and perseverance," Bill Maw said. "It's not so easy to have, especially as a child. He wants to get the word out, but he had to learn about the process, the web design, taking his idea further, it's exciting for him, but there's a long way to go if he wants to donate $50,000 to each charity."

But, he said, "I think it's inspiring for kids and I think it inspires parents to do things with their children besides sports - business can be very cool and it gives children the tools to one day be independent, to be self-sufficient ... There are certain things I have to provide him by law, like the money, but this was his project. He could have continued playing his game, but he took a half-joke seriously, and I think he's gained something from it."

Email: kleimann@northjersey.com