Lately I've been looking at two charities that have received some recognition amongst gamers; Child's Play and Extra Life. Child's Play is definitely the more famous of the two as it's the charity run and supported by the Penny Arcade guys, as well as the charity that all donations from the Desert Bus For Hope event go to. Last year they raised two point two million dollars. All donations from that charity go towards buying things on an Amazon wishlist, set up by the participating hospitals to buy video games and such for the sick children to help raise their spirits.
Extra Life is a very similar but entirely different charity, that as well as being primarily supported by gamers also involves gamers on a more person-to-person level. Think of it as the Terry Fox Run, only with playing video games instead of running, if that helps. Somebody who signs up as a player, agrees to play video games - whether they be on console, PC, facebook, or their iphone - for 24 hours straight, and they get people to pledge a certain amount per hour played. So if you pledge $1, you're agreeing to donate $24 to the hospital that the player has chosen to support. The donations attained go directly to the hospitals. Extra Life asks their players to raise a minimum of $100 but of course, hopes for more.
Do NOT get me wrong. I absolutely believe that both charities are amazing and are doing great things. But I personally believe that Extra Life helps the sick children in a much more direct route; helping cure the problem, instead of helping them cope with it. Sometimes the cure isn't attainable in the child's lifetime though, and I understand the need to make them as happy as possible in the interim.
This October 15, I will be participating in the Extra Life charity event, and I encourage you all to support me in supporting them by pledging. This is my donation page.
For further information about Extra Life & Child's Play, I encourage you to read their websites, which can be found at http://www.extra-life.org and http://www.childsplaycharity.org
