Charitable Achievements

As I walk around my college campus, I often find myself reminiscing of the elementary school days of playing with shaving cream on our desks, listening to songs about onomatopoeias, and playing computer games that seemed to have more fun involved than learning. One other thing I recall were the  countless school fundraisers. We had various types: selling curly shoelaces, cookie dough, yoyo's, wrapping paper, and even cheeses. One of the more popular fundraisers among the students was a unique fundraiser called Jump Rope for Heart.

Jump Rope for Heart is program that gives the students the opportunity to raise money for the American Heart Association foundation. The students raise donations by getting others to pledge a certain amount of money for every time they skip rope.

This year, Xbox has partnered with the Children's Miracle Network to bring gamers a similar fundraiser. It is called G3, or the Gaming and Giving for Good Charity Event. The way you raise money is exactly the same way you would for Jump Rope for Heart. A friend or acquaintance pledges a certain amount of money and based on how much you play is how much they pay. The event occurs on the weekend of October 1st and offers participants a free Xbox Live Gold membership for the weekend. Full event details can be found here.

After seeing this announced I decided to research what other video game-based charity events there are out there and didn't find too much. Other than some expired events like the Complete-Game Completion Marathon, (A two day event in which participant's video game challenges are broadcasted while other gamers donate.) I found an awesome direct-donation type charity.

The Child's Play Charity has been working with over 70 hospitals around the world since 2003 to donate interactive toys, video games, and other electronics to children's hospitals. They do so by connecting contributors to the hospitals directly with an interactive map on their website. The donor has a unique option to purchase a requested item directly for their selected hospital or to simply donate money to the organization via text, Paypal, or sending money directly. And that's right, you can text a donation! If you text GAMERS to 50555 it sends $5.00 directly to them and will show up as a $5.00 charge on your phone bill.

Although I won't be participating in G3 due to required college events, I definitely plan on making a contribution to Child's Play! These unique ways to help others by sharing the passion of gaming is not only a great publicity for the companies who sponsor them, but also for the gaming society as a whole.

If you plan on signing up for G3 or have other experiences with video game charities, share it here!

Yours truly,
HavokRose

For more information about the Compete-Game Completion Marathon click here. For a direct link to Child's Play click here.