Everyone knows that October signals pink socks, breast cancer awareness, and women’s health prevention month. With all of the 5k marathons that occur throughout the month, there has got to be a way that gamers can contribute right? Well, yes there is. Extra-Life is a charity that benefits Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and hosts a 24-hour gaming marathon every year to raise money for these hospitals.
The Inspiration
Jeremy Adams, aka “Doc” started Extra-Life after inspiration from a little girl’s fight against leukemia. Victoria Enmon was diagnosed with Leukemia when she was 11 years old with acute-lymphoblastic leukemia. Victoria was a happy-go lucky kid that would not let anything slow her down, including cancer. She first met Doc when he and his radio team held a radiothon at the Texas hospital that Victoria was receiving treatment from, and from there she stole the whole station’s hearts.
Victoria’s leukemia was cured, for a brief time, until it relapsed not once, but twice. It was during one of her extended stays at the hospital that Doc decided something more had to be done. Doc started reaching out, seeing that many of the kids in the hospital really didn’t have much to do, especially if their condition was more serious. It was at this point that he started receiving all sorts of video games not just from the state, but from across the globe. Games came pouring in, and Victoria and Doc started wondering what they were going to do with all of the games that they were receiving. Eventually they started giving them to the other kids in the hospital, which helped improve the general mood for Victoria and her family, since her cancer had come back.
The Beginning
After a valiant fight and a long, young life, Victoria passed away in January of 2008. It wasn’t until a few months later that Doc decided that he needed to do more with his career. He thought that gamers should be able to do what they love and still be able to help their community and give back to the world around them. Thus, Extra Life was born. The first year, 1200 gamers showed up for a 24-hour marathon in October of 2008.
As each year passed, the number of gamers increased exponentially, raising money for all of their local hospitals. Since it has started, they have raised more than $22 million for Children’s Miracle Network. Extra Life became a fun, exciting way for gamers to get together and raise money while doing what they love. But it doesn’t just have to be the hardcore gamers. Extra Life gamers include moms and dads, kids and grandparents that want to get together to play board games and fund raise for sick children together.
2016 Gaming Marathon
This year is no different for Extra Life. Their 24-hour gaming marathon will take place on November 5, 2016. Participating is super easy, and also a lot of fun. Join a team, or create one of your own online, and then start fundraising! Tell your friends and family to donate even $1 will help sick children get the medical help that they need. If you can’t game on the 5th, you can pick a different day to play. Extra Life is an awesome opportunity for anyone, even if you just want to play board games with friends.
Last year, Extra Life raised $8.3 million and had over 55,000 gamers participating in their game day marathon. This year, they set their goals to beat these numbers. So grab some friends and play Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, or the new Mafia 3 game and raise some money to help sick kids across the globe. If helping children isn’t enough, there are some game incentives and huge prizes for gaming during the marathon as well. So what’s stopping you? Register today at extra-life.org!
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