Columbus Extra Life Guild members pose with a Patient Champion from Nationwide Children’s Hospital at the 2018 GDEX event, Oct. 11, 2018 Credit: Courtesy of Austin Capell
The Buckeye Gaming Collective is doing what it does best by using the power of video games to fundraise for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in the fight to end pediatric cancer.
BGC is working alongside BuckeyeThon and Extra Life, a national fundraiser supporting local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, according to its website. The “Virtual Day of Play” is a 12-hour gaming marathon that will be streamed on the BGC’s official Twitch channel.
The stream will take place Saturday and consist of several sponsored tournaments for the event and online playtime with some of the children supported by BuckeyeThon, Kenneth Kresina, a third-year in new media and communication technology and the president of BGC, said.
“I think we’ve come up with a really, really exciting event, and we’re looking to get as many people involved,” Jeffrey Outcalt, a third-year in data analytics and the director of events for BuckeyeThon, said.
BuckeyeThon is a year-long campaign that has raised over $11.5 million in the last 20 years for pediatric cancer research at Columbus’ Nationwide Children’s Hospital, according to BuckeyeThon’s website. This year, the goal is to raise $2 million for the cause, and Outcalt said he believes the “Virtual Day of Play” is one of the ways this goal can be achieved.
Along with the official stream, students and non-students are encouraged to participate in any of the free tournaments for League of Legends, Among Us, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Rocket League for a chance to win Amazon gift cards, according to the “Virtual Day of Play” website.
“We’d like to think that people would be interested this year because you can do it from the safety of your own home or dorm,” Austin Capell, an Ohio State alumnus and treasurer for the Columbus Extra Life Guild — a local gaming organization that raises money for Nationwide Children’s Hospital — said. “It’s an alternative for people who might have similar goals for fundraising but might have slightly different interests.”
Capell said as a partner for this event, Extra Life is assisting by helping with event organization and providing the avenue of fundraising through the BuckeyeThon team on the Extra Life website.
“It’s really important for me to be able to try to give these kids the best shot of life they can. And a lot of them like video games too,” Capell said. “We’re just trying to give them the most normal they can have, and of course the money helps their families pay for bills and whatnot.”
Capell said an event such as this one is something he’s wanted to do since initially getting involved with Extra Life as a freshman at Ohio State in 2013.
“This is the first time we’re doing this, and I’m really hoping we can do things well enough this year to really give it another chance next year,” Capell said. “I think there’s a lot of people out there that want to help out the hospital in this way.”
Outcalt said for people who have not fundraised before, a checklist highlighting things people can do to make an impact in fundraising is available on the event page.
“Not only is that tool available, but we’re actually rewarding people for using that tool through the raffles and giveaways,” Outcalt said.
Some of the raffle prizes for completing the checklist include Hangover Easy and Dirty Franks gift cards, as well as game bundles for the Extra Life game, according to the event page.
Some of the tasks include registering friends to the official BuckeyeThon Extra Life team, sending 10 text messages to friends and family informing them of the event and raising at least $43 to represent the number of kids diagnosed with pediatric cancer every day, according to the checklist.
The “Virtual Day of Play” will take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and will be streamed on the Buckeye Gaming Collective’s official Twitch channel. Fundraising and event information can be found on the event page, posted on BuckeyeThon’s website.
Correction: A previous version of this story’s photo caption misspelled Austin Capell’s name. The caption has since been corrected.
