Video games, one of the great escapes from reality. A form of media where you can spend hours upon hours hunting dragons, saving people, being the bad guy, winning the Super Bowl, and countless others, as the saying goes, “I don’t have 1 life, I have multiple lives”. Not only are they a great escape from reality, but for the socially awkward or people who have a hard time making friends, they are a great way to do that, besides the 12 year old who said they slept with your mom while playing Call of Duty. Video games have given all of us here great memories and have given us all so much else, whether it’s new friends, stress relief, or an escape during bad times just to name a few, they have always been there for us. Now, video games will be there for us to give back to the community and more importantly, to the kids. It is my pleasure to announce that we here at The 1Up-Cup will be taking part in Extra Life this year. From now until November 7, you will see the donation links at the end of each article, in the twitch stream descriptions, and each YouTube description. If you can donate, we greatly appreciate it, if you can’t, we understand, but we do hope you can join us that day on our twitch stream starting at 8 am eastern on November 7.
For those of you who may not know what Extra Life is, it’s an annual 24 hour gaming marathon where all money raised goes to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and you can pick your local hospital when/if you make a donation. This year, the marathon takes place on Saturday, November 7 and starts at 8:00 am eastern. Unlike Games Done Quick, anyone can sign up to participate in Extra Life, and if November 7 doesn’t work, you can do it on any day. The Extra Life marathon has been going on since 2008 and raised 6 million dollars last year. Extra Life was created in 2008 when Victoria Enmon died in January after a long battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, she battled the disease 3 times. Before Tori died, gamers from the Sarcastic Gamer Community would send her games and gifts to keep her spirits up. In the first two years, Extra Life raised $302,000 that 100% went to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Being from Pittsburgh, you always hear families that bring their kids from other cities, states, and even countries to Pittsburgh for Children’s Hospital and their advanced medical treatment. You then hear how this person or group gave money to Children’s Hospital or the window cleaners that dressed up as superheroes, and it makes you smile and realize the world isn’t always so bad. Being just an Average Joe, it’s nice to know that I can participate in Extra Life to raise money to help kids get healthy again, to help them smile again, and to help them get back to a normal life. As for Children’s Hospital, they were there for me when I had a compound fracture of my wrist and when I broke my elbow cap off. The staff was always so polite and helpful, it’s nice to know, that now I can give back to them.
We ask that you please donate to our pledge, if you can’t, please forward it to your friends and families, and if you are up for the challenge, join the Extra Life marathon and help us and gamers from around the world raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. If you would like to learn more about Extra Life, please go to www.extra-life.org
To pledge to your favorite 1Up-Cup member, please use the following links:
Jess: https://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.participant&participantID=164047
Guffey: https://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.participant&participantID=148487
Bradburn: https://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.participant&participantID=166464
RK: https://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.participant&participantID=166730
