Gamers for Giving Event to Benefit Children and the Military

Gamers are a giving bunch! We’re happy to help announce the 6th Annual Gamers for Giving event brought to you by the Gamers Outreach Foundation. Taking place this February 8th and 9th, you can get in on the action at www.Twitch.tv/GamersOutreach. The event raises funds to help provide gaming kiosks for children’s hospitals and for military care packages.

In addition to being open to the public (you can register to participate at GamersForGiving.org), this event features participation from a number of pros, including: Dave “Walshy” Walsh, Alex “GoldenBoy” Mendez, Mike “Hastr0” Rufail, Michael “StrongSide” Cavanaugh, Bonnie “Xena” Burton, Frank “u4ix” Bowen, Alex “Axeltoss” Rodriguez, Shaun “FourCourtJester” Delaney, and Andy “Bravo” Dudynsky.

The games being played at this year’s event are Call of Duty: Ghosts, League of Legends, StarCraft 2, Halo 4 and Killer Instinct.

Here are more details from their announcement:

Gamers Outreach Foundation’s goal for Gamers for Giving is to reach $20,000. These funds will be used to help support the construction of portable video game kiosks dubbed Gamers Outreach Karts (“GO Karts”) for use in children’s hospitals. GO Karts — which contain a monitor, both an Xbox 360 and Xbox One console, and ASTRO Gaming headsets — are crafted for use within medical environments where children have limited mobility or access to activities away from their bedsides. Some of the benefits of GO Karts are that they are used to help normalize the hospital experience by enabling kids to do what they love and to promote socialization as they play together with their parents or roommates.

The funds will also be used to send video game care packages to troops serving overseas. These packages contain games and consoles with recipients selected based on soldier nominations. Care packages have been sent to troops serving in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and South Korea.

Founder and Eastern Michigan University student, Zach Wigal, has high expectations for this year’s event. “I’m looking forward to being able to give even more to kids in hospitals and troops serving overseas,” he says. “The children and soldiers we provide our donations to really benefit from a virtual escape and I’m always impressed by the generosity and support of the gaming community and video game industry.”

The event is open to the public who can register to participate at GamersForGiving.org. Expecting a full house at this year’s event, registration for the LAN Party is already sold out. For those who want to attend the Gamers for Giving in person, it will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Student Center at Eastern Michigan University and is free for spectators. Gamers for Giving will also be internationally live broadcast on www.Twitch.tv/GamersOutreach.

In addition to being Gamer’s for Giving’s livestreaming platform, Twitch is the event’s headline sponsor. This includes providing an array of promotional support and a donation to the cause.

“This last year has been a real tipping point in terms of the philanthropic nature of gamers,” said Matthew DiPietro, VP of Marketing, Twitch. “Millions have been raised by events hosted on Twitch thanks to the passion of the gaming community and events like Gamers for Giving. There’s no question that Gamers Outreach Foundation are making a difference in the world.”