Gamers for Giving

According to their website, www.gamersforgiving.com, gamers host “a weekend-long competitive gaming tournament, LAN party, and streamathon that helps raise money in support of Gamers Outreach programs. Ticket sales and donations help provide entertainment devices to hospitalized children.” This year’s event will be held on March 28 and 29 in Michigan to help Gamers Outreach. The event is held at the EMU Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, but donations are accepted to help the cause. By the end of the first week in February, nearly $35,000 was raised, about 5% of their goal for the event. In 2019, they raised $637,311.

Nearly 700 tickets have been sold and the gamers will have access to participating for 36 straight hours non-stop. The event benefits Gamers Outreach. “Founded in 2007, we’re a 501(c) (3) charity organization that provides equipment, technology, and software to help kids cope with treatment inside hospitals,” reads www.gamersoutreach.com, the organizations website. In 2016, Gamers for Giving set up a goal to raise $100,000 to build GO Karts, for hospitals throughout the United States, but they have already raised over $200,000.

They have more targeted campaigns, too, raising money for GO Karts for children in specific hospitals across the US. GO Karts (Gamers Outreach Karts) are portable video game units that “provide a safe, and efficient way to ensure kids have access to entertainment and coping mechanisms during hospitalization,” the Gamers Outreach website states. They are designed to accommodate different medical conditions, making it easier for children in the hospital to play at their level of comfort. “I think it’snice, the fact that people get to play games for charity. It’s a win-win for everybody,” said Taliya McClure. “People get to play games and the children that are  hospitalized also get games from the money that was raised from the tournaments.”