For the Good of Gaming

With recent news showing the not so positive side of gaming, we thought we’d share the good of it. We’ve put together a list of ways gamers are impacting the world for the better. Below are stories from impacted pediatric patients, gamers who are committed to helping the communities in which they live, and companies dedicated to supporting children’s health issues.

$3 million pledged to support the Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas Healing Garden:

Austin-based production company Rooster Teeth pledged $3 million to Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas through Extra Life to build the Rooster Teeth Healing Garden. The healing garden resides in the hospital’s new mental health unit, an expansion from physical care.

Caiti ward of Rooster Teeth said, “The impact of Dell Children’s opening their new mental health unit to the community not only benefits the children who come through their doors – it sends a greater message to every other children’s hospital across the country. It signifies mental health as an imperative part of human health; something to be addressed with the same urgency as physical health. This unit sets a standard for all children’s hospitals and I am so, so grateful to every single person who has contributed to our Rooster Teeth [@roosterteeth] Extra Life [@extralife4kids] efforts for having played a crucial part in ending the stigma of mental illness. Thank you so much to Dell Children’s for letting us be a part of this incredible, important work, and for naming this garden, here in our community, so that we might stay inspired and driven and fierce in our charge to fight all childhood disease equally – including mental illness.”

Gamers have raised $40 million for children’s hospitals across North America:

More than 50,000 gamers registered in Extra Life have raised over $40 million for CMN Hospitals since 2008 via Extra Life, a fundraising program of CMN Hospitals. Donations are given unrestricted and go to fund the hospital’s greatest needs including critical treatments and healthcare services, pediatric medial equipment and charitable care.

One pediatric patient unable to play active sports found a team through gaming:

Logan was born with complex congenital heart disease and has undergone multiple open-heart surgeries, his first when he was a few days old. Logan had a heart defect called double outlet right ventricle, which cuts off the chamber responsible for pumping blood to the body and resulted in multiple side effects. Thanks to the expertise of surgeons, nurses and support staff at CHOC Children’s, Logan’s heart is now able to pump a healthy supply of oxygen throughout his body.

                “I guess I am a bit of a miracle. Not because of anything I have done, but for the things the miracle workers at CHOC have done for me.” – Logan

Now a teenager, Logan represents his class as a leader on his school’s ASB and loves attending summer camp. Logan and his three sisters make blankets, superhero capes and holiday cards that offer encouragement to kids who are going through the same challenges that Logan experienced. He hopes to be a video game developer in the future so that he can help kids have a “virtual escape” from their hospital beds. Logan has big dreams and we can’t wait to see what this CHOC superhero does next.

Family gives back to those who cared for their child:

“I Extra Life for my daughter and all the kids like her. This is my 9th year participating in Extra Life. It started out as fun, “Hey, this is a marathon I can actually do!”  The weight of the event became more real after some friends of ours had a baby with extremely severe heart conditions, who stayed in the hospital for many months after his birth.” — Mike, 9th year Extra Lifer raising funds for Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.

Companies use gaming for team building:

Fragforce, a philanthropic gaming team created by company Salesforce aimed to boost employee morale and support cross-team and community collaboration through a shared love of gaming. That shared love of gaming has raised nearly $100,000 this year for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

The kids are playing with us during our @ExtraLife4Kids 24 hour gaming marathon ONSITE at @UCSFChildrens @CMNHospitals ! Please donate. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/sTecxPKfbW

— fragforce (@fragforce) November 12, 2016

Fellow patients play games to continue one high schooler’s legacy:

Christien Quiles lost his battle with osteosarcoma, inspiring the Teen Advisory Board he was a member of at McLane Children’s Medical Center to continue his dream of helping as many sick kids as possible.

96 reasons why gamers are playing for good:

Didn’t see enough gaming for good stories in this article? Hear them from gamers themselves: