How Gamers Power-Up for Hospitalized Kids
More than 50,000 gamers unite each year to create Extra Life for hospitalized children. Gamers of all kinds, from console, PC, table top, and more are saving and improving the lives of kids in their communities.
Extra Life was created in 2008 in the memory of Victoria Enmon, a little girl from Orange, TX. After four years of fighting leukemia, she passed away at 15. Jeromy Adams, then a radio DJ and founder of Extra Life had become a really good friend to her through Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Radiothon and found a way to honor her legacy.
Meant to be a one-time event, Jeromy Adams organized Extra Life as a local fundraiser for Texas Children’s Hospital, where Victoria had received her treatment. More than 1200 gamers participated digitally, raising $120,000. Extra Life continued to push forward to honor Victoria’s legacy, growing to become an official Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals fundraising program and helping participants benefit the local CMN Hospital in their community.
Taking a twist on the traditional philanthropic marathon – people can run, walk, and ride a bike for a cause, Extra Life allows participants to form a different kind of endurance event. Playing games for 24 hours to raise money.
Extra Life partners with some of the largest names in the gaming industry, including Twitch, Rooster Teeth, reddit, Wizards of the Coast, Humble Bundle, ESA Foundation, XSplit and Trion Worlds. While anyone can participate, content creators live-stream their game play and earn donations from followers, often raising more than five-figure donations within hours for Extra Life.
Since 2008, Extra Life has raised over $30 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Donations have been used for patient programs, new equipment, research, and charitable care that help save and improve the lives of local kids.
Interested participants can register at Extra-Life.org, select their local hospital as their preferred CMN Hospital, set a fundraising goal and collect donations throughout the year for kids in need. Learn more about the local CMN Hospital and how donations are saving kids’ lives at CMNHospitals.org.