Since he was 5 years old, Christopher Paterson, a Loudonville High School freshman, has been helping his family start a local non-profit business called MUGS.

He has recently created a free app that will help aid his family and the community with their fundraising in order to jumpstart the company.

“The app, ‘DRIPS’, is a coffee-based phone game that requires the player to fill drink orders to advance levels,” Paterson said. “The way they do that is by moving a mug on a tray back and forth to catch drips falling from the top of the screen.”

The app works with the phone’s gyroscope, so the player tilts the phone to move the mug. Paterson is constantly working to add more levels and features to keep players interested and having fun.

Paterson decided to create the app when his family brainstormed ideas to raise money to help start a local coffee shop.

“I first got the idea for the game when I was talking with my mom about her non-profit organization, MUGS,” Paterson said. “Her team needed a considerable amount of money to finish the renovations on their building, and I thought a phone game might help.”

The game is free to download, so the money they make comes from the ads a player watches and any in-app purchases they make.

In December 2014, Paterson’s mother, Bethany, and her team were given a building in downtown Loudonville to start this non-profit company with a goal to help better the community.

The MUGS’ team knew going in that to create the kind of atmosphere they needed, it could not be just a community center. It had to be a coffeehouse, too.

“But in a region like ours, where three more restaurants have closed since the start of this year, MUGS wouldn’t live long if they opened as a food retail business with tons of construction debt,” Paterson said. “They decided to give MUGS the best chance at a long life by opening as a non-profit, with as little debt as possible. That’s why they’re raising their money before they spend it.”

Paterson was fortunate enough to have resources nearby to jumpstart his idea.

He worked with a university student from Berlin, Germany named Tim Sauvegeot. He took the concept and art and created the coding necessary for the game.

Raising the money is very important to Paterson and he hopes to get the word out to as many people as he can as soon as possible.

“The great thing about ‘DRIPS’ is with every download and share, you’re helping a non-profit,” Paterson said. “Because MUGS will be the kind of place where people can go for life-skills development classes, you’re literally helping change people’s lives every time you play.”