You won’t find any marathon runners or bake sales here; this fundraiser is for gamers only. Extra Life Game Day is an event where volunteers play games for 24 hours to raise money for their local Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) hospital. The Extra Life Calgary Guild has been raising money for the Alberta Children’s Hospital for over 6 years now. They are aiming to hit their $1 million mark in total donations by the end of this year. So far, they have raised over $800 thousand dollars in the past 6 years.
Game Day for Extra Lifers across North America happened on November 3rd. While volunteers can raise money throughout the year, every volunteer participates in fundraising efforts on Game Day. The funds from Game Day go to over 170 CMN hospitals. Over the past decade, Extra Life volunteers have raised over $40 million for sick and injured kids and their families.
4 Ways to Celebrate Game Day
- Host or join a Game Day party at home
- Board games, video games, any kind of games! Enjoy Game Day with friends and family.
- Host or join a Game Day event at a venue
- Reach the public by partnering with a local venue, such as a gaming store. Like Nick from Sentry Box Cards, they probably want to help!
- Stream your Game Day online
- Spread the news of Extra Life across the reaches of the Internet through Twitch, Mixer, or YouTube.
- Watch your favorite streamer and donate
- Watch your favorite streamer’s channel and donate through extra-life.org.
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You don’t have to be a part of the guild to raise money for Extra Life. Level UP (@levelupmods) co-hosted Game Day events with the Microsoft Store in Calgary and Sentry Box Cards. Parmeshawn (Shawn Naugler) streams on Twitch and gets his followers to donate money. Many others across Calgary do their own events, so don’t worry! Just play some games and help some kids. As Extra Life Calgary Guild Member Ryan says, “Anyone can do extra life… that’s what this is all about.”
The Alberta Children’s Hospital gets donations from Extra Lifers across Southern Alberta, Eastern BC and Western Saskatchewan. Donations are used for many different programs from art therapy to 3 Tesla (3T) MRI machines. Alexandra Simmerling, Community Initiatives & Events Associate at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation says that without community support, a lot of their research, equipment, and programs would not be possible.
The internet has changed the game for fundraising, and Extra Life is at the forefront of the online fundraising movement. Extra Life reaches people through their website and online community pages. Game Day is often streamed online and playing video games is the most common way to raise money. Extra Life is truly a fundraiser that thrives in the age of the internet and uses that power to help kids.