Character-Based Catch-ups are a new blog series featuring the inspiring beneficiaries of GameChanger Charity’s Character-Based Scholarship program.
Every day, we’re touched by the kind of impact supporters like you have made possible.
We’re glad to bring you another check-in from a previous Character-Based Scholarship recipient Savanah:
“Dear GameChanger Charity,
No words can express the gratitude I feel for the grant you awarded me. Thank you so much! With the money you gave me, I will be able to afford living [here] over this next semester.
If everything goes according to plan, I hope to earn my degree and work for a nonprofit so I can help others like you have helped me.
Once again, thank you! Please let me know if I can help in any way.
Sincerely,
Savanah B.”
Character-Based Catch-ups: Kamron S.
Character-Based Catch-ups are a new blog series featuring the inspiring beneficiaries of GameChanger Charity’s Character-Based Scholarship program.
“Hello all! My name is Kamron, and I was the recipient of a $5,000 GameChanger scholarship in 2015.
In December of 2014, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphona. I received a life-saving bone marrow transplant in February of 2016 and have been in remission ever since. In fact, in the summer of 2017, I had the amazing opportunity to meet my donor, Rahul, and his fianceé, Jessica. In addition, I visited them for a weekend at their apartment in Tempe, AZ during the end of November that year. Lastly, my family and I were invited to their wedding this August. It was a phenomenal experience.
I am currently a junior studying Business Administration with a minor in Psychology at [my] University. However, I am not physically on campus this semester. I am grateful because I am actually studying in Rome, Italy at the moment. Rome was one of the four destinations of my Make A Wish trip during summer of 2017 — and I knew I had to come back. It has been 2 months since I have been here, and it has been a life-changing experience so far. I am not looking forward to returning to the states in December.
GameChanger’s considerate scholarship made my dream of studying in Rome more possible. It is an organization I respect incredibly. I remember the joy on little patients’ faces when I once went around with them passing out gifts at [my hospital]. I am forever thankful for all the opportunities that have come my way because of them.
Kamron S.”
Gamechanger and Friends 2018
About The Event
Gamechanger and Friends 2018 is the first annual, month-long community fundraiser hosted by Gamechanger Charity, featuring guest livestreamers and giveaways.
The Goal
Raise $75,000 during the month of August, leading up to one Grand Finale, multi-partner day of streaming on the 29th. This will allow us to fund at least 5 GameChanger scholarships and give 5,000+ copies of the game I, Hope to kids / teens in hospitals around the world.
Showcase Games
Developed by Kenny Roy, I, Hope is a beautiful coming of age adventure story about a young girl named Hope, whose town has been taken over by Cancer. The game is engaging for all, yet for survivors and children who are currently battling cancer, the game is empowering. This title is also the first independently developed gamed that was donated entirely to Gamechanger Charity’s nonprofit causes.
Developed by Laura Shigihara, Rakuen has received 1,067 positive reviews and carries a Metacritic score of 84. In this game, a hospitalized boy comes to terms with his own story by traveling with his mother to a beautiful fantasy world; ultimately helping his fellow patients find closure by walking a mile in their shoes.
Prize Giveaways
By donating via the official event Tiltify page, supporters can choose to enter different giveaways based on the chosen level of contribution:
- $10.00 – get a copy of Rakuen & I, Hope on PC and we will give an addition copy of I, Hope to a kid in a hospital.
- $15.00 – get entered to win a Minecraft Fun Pack ($200 value) – physical prize
- LEGO Minecraft #21117 “The Elder Dragon”
- Minecraft foam pickaxe
- Minecraft 5″ vinyl “Mining Steve”
- 3- Minecraft mini mystery box
- $50.00 – Enter to win an Autographed Minecraft collector’s pack by the Minecraft team – physical prize
- Xbox One
- Minecraft Poster
- Minecraft Adventure kits with Iron Sword
- Funko collectible toy
- “Minecraft: The Crash” book signed by the author
- $100.00 –GameChanger Founders Pack + 1 month (25 to 28 games) of Chrono.gg games (limited to 10 winners) + lower tier items
- $10.00 – get a copy of Rakuen & I, Hope on PC and we will give an addition copy of I, Hope to a kid in a hospital.
Play Day at UCSF Benioff
On November 7th 2017 GameChanger hosted a Play Day at UCSF Benioff in San Francisco. Along with our team, volunteers from EA and Twitch were in attendance to play games with the kids and hand out fun gifts to hospital patients and their siblings.
When bringing therapeutic gaming and VR to children in hospitals, there’s always a source of inspiration to behold. It comes from witnessing the resilience of children patients who have a sense of wonder that only a young person can have and from the caring Child Life staff we meet.
In a similar way, inspiration fills the room when you experience volunteers coming to one of our Play Days. Generally speaking, these are people who like to take a moment out of their busy schedules to bring a bit of cheer to children staying in hospitals.
Volunteering was a core element of our recent GameChanger Play Day.
GameChanger Charity was thrilled to be invited to EA’s 11th Annual Nonprofit showcase. Located at EA’s headquarters in Redwood City, California, the day featured various charities that expressed interest in working with volunteers from the EA team.
The offer we established for employees was to join us for a Play Day at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital where they would spend time playing games with children staying at the hospital in order to bring a bit of fun to their day.
The more we talked with folks at EA the more we could see that the people who came by to discuss GameChanger’s mission were enthusiastic about putting energy toward a cause.
Fast-forward a couple weeks later to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco. Not only did we have four amazing team members from EA join us, we also had a crew from Twitch Charity in attendance along with talented music streamer Tammy Byerly.
We had two rooms available for use. One of them, a digital AV lab that UCSF Benioff created to be used exclusively by their patients, featured a green screen along with just about any resource one would need to create a TV show and let their imagination run wild.
We set up 2 VR devices. One, an HTC Vive, which had various games like Fruit Ninjas and Tilt Brush. The other, a PSVR with VR Worlds that featured a virtual luge game. David Arditti and Nate Aschenbach, our resident VR Specialists and all-around good guys, managed the gaming and helped guide the kids through new experiences in the virtual reality space.
The next room over was a teen lounge where multiple consoles were set-up with a variety of games including Guitar Hero, Star Wars Battlefront, FIFA 2018, Super Smash Bros on Wii-U, and an Oculus VR headset featuring Medium, an art game where you draw in a 3D space!
We also had games spilling out into the hallways including Marvel’s Lego Avengers and Angry Birds Star Wars, which is also where our table of gifts was located where patients, brothers and sisters were able to choose from an assortment of fun gifts.
Toys we brought along were supplied by our awesome partners at Hasbro and included Mr. Potato Head, Nerf Basketball sets, Upwords Board Games, Baby Alive dolls and Marvel Iron Man Action Figures. SkyLanders were available as well, which Activision has so graciously donated.
It seemed that as soon as we set up a group of kids came to play! With excited smiles, the patients and siblings adventured through VR landscapes and enjoyed playing the various games with our volunteers.
A highlight to note, Tammy Byerly played her guitar for one of the patients who was delighted to experience such a unique talent singing right in front of them. As a special bonus, EA donated some of their top new games to the hospital so patients could have access to some of the newest and best video games out today.
A big thanks goes to the volunteers from EA and Twitch that joined us for GameChanger Play Day! Of course, we can’t thank UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital enough for having us. Stay tuned for more from GameChanger Charity and our partnerships with awesome companies like these by following us on our Twitter!
The Gamers Give Back Tour Fall 2017 Recap!
We wrap up our 2017 Gamers Give Back Tour with some special stops on both coasts of the country.
At the end of September, along with Child’s Play Charity, we made two stops on the East Coast. First up, we met with Child Life staff and handed out gifts to child patients at the Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo in New York. The Minecraft plushes were a big hit and Hope The Monkey’s were aplenty and given to the younger patients right alongside our toys and books.
Thank you to the awesome team at Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo for having us! Looking forward to seeing you all again!
Next up, we took a short jaunt over to the fine city of Brotherly Love.
While we didn’t get a flick of Hope The Monkey running the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art via Rocky we did get the chance to have a cheesesteak after our visit!
Of course, this was not our main intent while visiting Philadelphia…
We came fully prepared to meet and greet with the wonderful patients and Child Life staff at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. For this stop, along with meeting with the patients and bringing a catered lunch to the staff, we brought along a mobile gaming station with a PS4 set-up so the kids and staff could play some games and enjoy their day together.
A bit later in the month, we made our way out to Sacramento for a unique day where we made stops at two different hospitals.
It turns out that UC Davis Medical and Shriners Northern California are right across the street from each other. This allowed us to deliver gifts to the patients and treat the Child Life staff members to lunch and/or a snack at two facilities in one day!
We spent the first half of the day at UC Davis Medical. At this Children’s Hospital, as well as all the others, we always meet special children with eclectic little personalities. Below is a picture of one of the special patients who was extremely excited that she had just received a Littlest Pet Shop play set.
We enjoyed having lunch with the Child Life staff at UC Davis Medical where we were able to discuss options on how to improve their gaming set-ups! To note, we were able to send a few new controllers to the facility after we saw they needed them!
If you’ve ever experienced visiting a Shriners Hospital you know they are places that pay special attention to their child patients. The size of the recreational spaces and options for activities bring life to the floors and a positive vibrant energy fills the space that is simply impossible to ignore.
We met up with the Child Life staff at Shriners Northern California for a sit down conversation on all things gaming. Along with the Childs Play team, we will be working with Shriners to ensure that all of their gaming platforms are up to date and that the endless possibilities of the VR and AR space are available to them.
Next up, along with Childs Play, we headed up to into the great Pacific Northwest to meet with the Child Life staff at Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital. It was here that we spent some time discussing all of the gaming options we could provide for their patients. The staff had a lot of questions about our program and we were happy to provide them with answers, and we were excited about possibilities in VR and AR!
At each and every one of the stops we make on the Gamers Give Back Tour, we are humbled by the genuine love and kindness the Child Life staff shows for the patients they care for.
While it must be incredibly emotional to be involved with children and their families going through their daily motions while facing life-threatening illnesses head on, the Child Life staff approach their jobs in a human way with the knowledge and diligence to do what is right for the kids and do so in a caring manner on a daily basis with grace and a smile on their face. Our whole team is constantly in awe of their strength and it only makes us even more committed to doing what we do as a charity.
To all of the Child Life staff we meet, a humble “thank you” for having us!
The Ultimate PC for a Good Cause – Winner Announced!!
Congrats to Javier for winning the custom built PC from NVIDIA! We hope you enjoy many amazing days of gaming in the near future!
Together, along with the 4,000+ entries who donated to win, you have helped to bring the pure joy of gaming to children in hospitals around the world who are dealing with life-threatening illnesses. Each dollar truly makes a difference for the lives of the kids we meet and none of it would be possible without your help.
Donate to GameChanger Charity while getting the chance to win game codes and other great prizes while getting a chance to win this amazing NVIDIA custom built gaming PC valued at 15,000.00!!
“Months ago, the GeForce team decided the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti deserved a PC worthy of the power and design our top-tier GPU brings to gaming. So we went to our friends at PC case maker Parvum with one request: create the Ultimate GeForce PC, and make it glorious.
See it right here for yourself by checking out this video!
…This one-of-a-kind powerhouse is custom-built out of milled aluminum. It’s smaller than most ATX chassis, yet feels incredibly dense at 48 pounds. It’s the Ultimate GeForce PC of our dreams.”
· GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
· Case: Custom-milled, completely unique aluminum chassis
· Motherboard: Asus X99-E WS USB 3.1 Intel X99 (Socket 2011) DDR4 EATX Workstation
· CPU: Intel i7-6850K 3.60GHz (Broadwell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3
· Memory: Kingston HyperX Predator 16GB (8x4GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz
· Storage: Samsung 960 PRO Polaris 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive
· Watercooling: EK Water Blocks EK-KIT S240 Performance Watercooling Kit
· PSU: Silverstone SST-SX700-LPT SFX-L 700W 80 Plus Platinum Modular Power Supply Custom Milled Aluminum Chassis
· Estimated total value – $15,000
The Grand Prize Winner will receive:
1 Ultimate GeForce PC from NVIDIA!
1 full suite of Razer Gunmetal accessories (BlackWidow X Chroma, Lancehead TE, Invicta and Kraken) for the person who wins the PC!!!
For more info about runner up prizes and exciting games like Star Wars Battlefront and Destiny 2 click here!
We can’t thank NVIDIA enough! For detailed information, official rules, prizes and donations awards, please visit our donor drive page.
We wouldn’t be able to accomplish what we do without the partnerships of businesses such as NVIDIA that want to help out and truly make a difference for the children we visit in hospitals around the country and the world. We are incredibly grateful for their contributions to our cause.
GameChanger Charity at TwitchCon 2017
“TwitchCon is a celebration of all things Twitch, from the streamers and their communities, to the developers who make the games we love. At TwitchCon, we all gather to learn and play together.”
First off, we want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to our team of amazing streamers representing us at TwitchCon 2017 Charity Decathlon.
For Reference, this was our roster of players on the Charity Team:
- The Rocket League Rockdown: CrReam
- Coloring for Dummies Challenge: SimplyJxn and Danotage
- The Long beach Brawlhalla Beatdown: dmbrandon
- Jingle all the Way Contest: Littlesiha and WyvernSlayer
- Let The Sparcs Fly Challenge: A_jaxx
- You Don’t Know Jack! Challenge: Kyente
- The Sandwich Smashdown Challenge: Rypsii and lumiipvp
- Tastes Like Chicken Challenge: Tashnarr
- Build me up, Buttercup Challenge: 8BitDylan
- Battle of the Musicians: VideoGameRapBattles
What can we say except WOW and THANK YOU! The attention you are bringing toward our mission is incredibly important and we couldn’t be happier about the enthusiasm shown by all of our Charity Team members who represented for us on the Tiltify Charity Stage.
Friday, the first day of TwitchCon, was a wonderful blur! Our booth was located in the Tiltify charity plaza. Many people came by our booth eager to say hello and many Hope The Monkey plush animals, GameChanger drawstring bags, stickers, and bracelets made their way into the hands of convention goers who support our cause!
Situated next to a Dance Dance Revolution arcade game, our booth attracted many different types of people. We had a ton of great swag on deck and spent time talking with all visitors who came to ask questions and learn more about GameChanger Charity.
As a bonus, our booth also had a new game that all could try out titled Ihope. Stay tuned to our blog as there is more to come on this soon!
The fun didn’t stop once the sun set. Just as soon as we wrapped up on the floor for day one we headed over to VillainCon, an amazing party put on by Blizzard. The party had two different levels of fun, featured exclusive masks and pins, and was set in the gorgeous Federal bar in Long Beach.
There was still one more stop to make! Tiltify hosted a party on the Queen Mary!! This incredible old cruise ship rests in the Long Beach harbor and is always a sight to see. Wonderful job at throwing the party, Tiltify!
Back to the convention floor…
Saturday brought with it a new crowd of visitors to the Charity Plaza. Our giveaway efforts were in full swing and many streamers were signing up with us to join up with us on future charity stream efforts!
When you walk around an event the size of TwitchCon you really start to get a feeling for all the different types of people who love gaming and the new platforms such as Twitch that are making it possible for all of us to join together in the world of live streaming. There are so many different artists, gamers, fans, and general enthusiasts who were all interacting with one another and enjoying their time together.
Oh yeah, there was Twitch merch. Can’t forget the Twitch merch!!!
Child’s Play Charity, our partners on the Gamers Give Back Tour, hosted an ENTIRE ARCADE where all games were free resting just behind their booth!
Not far from the arcade was the Design by Humans booth. Design by Humans has been wonderful in helping us get our name out and even created the shirts we wore for the event! You can check out the GameChanger merch they have helped us create by clicking on this page.
On Sunday, Nate and David, two of our GameChanger team members, joined forces with Able Gamers and Gamers Outreach to form the Charity Squad! Together, the Charity Squad took part in a Killer Queen gaming competition and, low and behold, placed as runners up only to one team, the Roof Riders! Needless to say, we were very excited for our team!!
Click here to see the 2017 list of exhibitors from the event.
We are so grateful to have been involved in TwitchCon 2017. The genuine interest in GameChanger from many people at the event is humbling for all of us and is incredibly appreciated.
Be sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter for all future events as we continue to grow and bring innovative tech and gaming to children suffering from life-threatening illnesses.
A HUGE Thanks to Twitch and Tiltify for organizing this massive event and including GameChanger Charity in the festivities!
Till next year!!!!
GameChanger & Rivals of Poker Team Up!
Be #Allin4Hope and play Rivals of Poker! Join in on fun poker-app action while contributing to our mission to bring gifts and gaming joy to children dealing with life-threatening illnesses.
Now available to Download!
We’re excited to announce our partnership with Nobotgames! They’ve created an awesome new poker app called Rivals of Poker, and we’re proud to say we have our own team in the game that you can join!
Not only will any skill level of poker player have a blast playing, you’ll be helping out GameChanger— all proceeds from in-app purchases on the team will go to us!
Here’s a brief summary of Rivals of Poker:
“Rivals of Poker is a free-to-play mobile poker game and league with fun features that enable skill to matter for the first time in a free-to-play poker app. Rivals of Poker raises the stakes and fosters real competition by also offering players unique, real world rewards for engaging in the game. The top ranked players every season are invited to compete in live matches for prizes.”
Head on over to the app store on your smart phone and look up Rivals of Poker app or download it here! Sign up, take the tutorial, pick a username, and select GameChanger as your team. For more on the partnership with this app, check out the blog on the Rivals of Poker site.
Keep on the lookout for upcoming announcements about fun dates and events involving this partnership. We’ll update this blog and post to keep everyone informed on Facebook and Twitter.
GameChanger Day Celebrates Giving, Gaming for Children in Hospitals
GameChanger Day is a joyous occasion that represents all we hold dear as a charity. The mood is celebratory and the video games, VR, and toys are aplenty.
More often than not, when we visit hospitals, the patients we meet are going through mental and physical strain due to the nature of the treatments they’re receiving. At each and every stop, we do our best to bring a smile to the face of the children and families we meet by supplying a break from their time in the hospital.
While we strive to bring a bit of hope to every stop throughout the Gamers Give Back Tour, there are times we feel compelled to make an extra push to create a larger than life moment. On Wednesday August 23rd, together with the good folks at Morgan Stanley Hospital in New York City, GameChanger Day was one of those moments.
Before the kids arrived in the game room, we set up an Xbox one with NBA 2K17, Minecraft, Halo 5, and LEGO Marvel Superheroes. We also had a PS4 with a Guitar Hero station ready to go so everyone could rock out as needed! Not long after we finished setting up, many different patients, along with their parents and siblings, arrived with pleasantly surprised looks on their faces. It was time to have some fun!
Nate, our resident VR expert, brought our virtual reality set up and shared new and exciting worlds with the children. The kids loved creating sculptures, characters and shapes using Medium. Faces across the room lit up when the kid’s realized they could create a sculpture in 3D and walk around with it. We also had the PS4 VR complete with a driving wheel and pedals with Driveclub ready to go along with Eagle Flight and Google Earth VR on our two Oculus Rift with Touch Controllers set-ups.
Sometimes, the raucous nature of a playroom at a hospital can be a bit intimidating for a child. It’s extremely important that we remain sensitive to the needs of the patients. In these cases, it’s the small things that count to make every child feel included. One of the boys we met was a bit shy and quietly mentioned to his mom that his favorite streamer had played Job Simulator in VR. We looked up the game and downloaded it on the spot. The mom and son duo, in which the young man used his right hand while his mom helped control with her left, played for 40 minutes and enjoyed every moment of it.
The hit of the showcase? A 4 Player version of Rocket League (think of it as soccer but with rocket-powered trucks) projected onto a jumbo screen! 4 kids at a time were at the helm clutching Xbox controllers while music from the awesome game soundtrack and sound effects emanated from a large state of the art speaker. The matches were epic to say the least and culminated in the last game of the day where the kids were on a 4-player team against 4 CPUs. The kids were down 4 points and came back in the last 90 seconds and won by a point!
A huge thanks to each and every team member on the Child Life staff at Morgan Stanley Hospital. We’re already in talks with their team on expanding our relationship to help build out their VR experience in the hospital and will be assisting with upgrading their teen lounge in the near future.
Like all of our efforts, none of this would be possible if not for the help of our amazing supporters who host the fundraisers that keep GameChanger Charity moving along. This past year, we had incredible efforts hosted by San Francisco Giants baseball star Hunter Pence and YouTube/Streamer star (and all around good guy) Markiplier. Portions of the funds raised from each of their efforts went toward making GameChanger Day a reality.
Engadget wrote a beautiful piece about the day. Check out this excerpt:
GameChanger takes just about anything that companies are willing to give, much of it being items that are just slightly too old for sale and are destined to be destroyed anyway. That includes tablets, gaming consoles, games and even marketing goods. Jim said GameChanger wasn’t allowed to bring tech on a recent trip to Cuba but was able to bring shirts and hats from gaming companies, which the children loved. “We’ll take anything that’s new, that’s excess material that can be repurposed that these families would love to have,” said Jim.
Click here to read the entire article.
Keep up with GameChanger Charity! Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all of our events and efforts!
Official PLAYERUNKOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS Merchandise
Official PLAYERUNKOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS merchandise is now available! The PUBG Community Team has taken note of the requests for clothing and other items and decided to not only launch an online store but to do so in a charitable manner.
PLAYERUNKOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS may turn out to be the most popular PC game of 2017. Now, with the recent announcement that a version of the game will be coming out for XBOX, this Battle Royale-themed title is only going to be receiving more attention from the gaming community and beyond.
Similar to shirts with Mario’s face or clothing featuring characters from Angry Birds, this popular game has brought with it the desire to represent the passion for playing PUBG with graphic shirts and select accessories.
The PUBG Community Team team is donating 50% of the entire proceedings from merchandise sales to two charities, GameChanger Charity (yay!) and Gamers Outreach.
The PUBG Community Team had a few kind words to say about partnering with us:
“We support their noble cause of helping those who are suffering, especially those who are facing life threatening illnesses and courageously fighting against them on a daily basis.”
Please note that the store is starting small with limited inventory and a couple variations of shirts. No need to worry, new artwork will be added soon!
Check out the Design By Humans PUBG Shop and give a nod to other PUBG gamers when you see them wearing the gear. There are currently a few branded items such as hoodies, t-shirts and snapbacks. We also have some cool shirts featuring GameChanger Charity designs as well.
A huge thank you to all fans of this wildly popular game who contribute to our mission by purchasing PUBG merchandise. We say it all the time but it can’t be said enough, we couldn’t do it without you and your support. We’ll update this page as necessary when new merchandise is released!