If you shop at Target, here is how you can support GameChanger

1. Open your Target app
2. Tap on “Circle”
3. Select “Vote for nonprofits”
4. Add your votes to GameChanger Charity

About Target Circle

Using Target Circle, shoppers can earn 1% in Target Circle earnings rewards each time they make an eligible purchase at Target, in-store and online. Shoppers can save on items, claim earnings for discounts, and keep track of the amount of money they’ve saved/earned using the program. Alongside these many benefits, Target Circle members can earn votes to support a nonprofit in their community. Shoppers can earn one vote on every eligible purchase. Sign up and learn more at www.target.com/circle. 

The post Vote GameChanger for Target Circle first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

Though these times were difficult, we at GameChanger never strayed from our mission: To change the game for sick kids. That still remains priority number one! The last couple of years were especially difficult for hospitalized children who, during the pandemic, were more isolated than ever. This motivated us more than anything.  With our absence on social media, we realize that you may have not heard about the amazing things GameChanger has been doing recently so we’d like to get you caught up:

• We partnered with EA to bring consoles, games, and love to hospitalized kids. GameChanger was able to deliver over 825,000 hours of gaming for hospitalized kids and families. We were also able to provide educational services and gifts of EA games for kids to bring home from their hospital stays. 
• Donated Playwell gaming systems to 7 children’s hospitals. These systems empowered hospitalized children with the power of gaming and entertainment.
• When the war in Ukraine broke out, GameChanger sent aid to displaced Ukrainian children with illnesses.
• Provided funding for 5 college scholarships to students that instead of being at school, were stuck in hospital rooms.
• Began work with top-ranking pediatric health care providers to test patients using video games to keep them on mental health, diabetes, and asthma protocols. In this program, children get video game downloads when they do their protocols.
• Dropped off gifts while traveling from San Francisco to San Diego during our “Road Trip for Good” program.

Because of our disappearance from social media, we weren’t able to keep our amazing supporters updated, which is something we never want to happen again. We have some incredible things planned for 2023 and want to bring everyone along for the ride. By the time you’re reading this, our social media accounts will have been relaunched. Follow our journey and change the game in your own ways: 

instagram.com/gamechangerorg

twitter.com/gamechangerorg

facebook.com/gamechangerorg

linkedin.com/company/gamechangerorg/

The post GameChanger Returns to Social Media and Reviews 2022 first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

“It seems like you have control over my life, but really you don’t.

Your presence only makes me stronger, braver, and wiser. I choose how I think and speak, and the way I love. Those are the things you can’t touch, the fear of your name no longer haunts my soul. And the horrible feelings that you bring I ignore. I have a bigger Army, we will fight against you. This dictatorship you’ve been trying to create will stop because I own myself, my feelings, my body and I will survive this. In this life I’ve only been told that I cant do certain things because I’m sick, but I disagree, what about those who have no arms? And sell pretty flowers on the streets of new york? Or those who cant hear?

Like Mandy Harvey who lost her hearing and had no idea what her voice sounded like. She feels the vibrations of the instruments on the floor and creates beautiful music. Those are only obstacles, like being in an army, preparing yourself for harder situations, going through obstacles and hard training, for what? You may ask, To prepare yourself and become strong human beings. Stronger than any Rock in Central Park. That’s how I see myself.”

The post Scholarship Recipient Standing Up To Cancer first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

It was a colder than usual week in Southern California but that wasn’t going to stop us and Child’s Play Charity from doing what we came to do; Helping our partners who are actually our neighbors.

The week started off at Miller children’s hospital in Long Beach. It was there that we walk the halls handing out many different toys and were able to talk with their team of child life staff members over delicious pizza from Buono’s, a favorite local Italian establishment.

The childcare staff at Miller had many different questions and we were able to answer all of them with confidence about how we could help maximize their potential in the gaming space.

One of the things we all appreciated about Miller was the emphasis on family and togetherness. Just as our values reflect caring for one another during difficult times, Miller Children’s Hospital also makes it possible for all family members to feel included while they go through a time that can be very tough for them and especially the patients.

Our next stop was at UCLA Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. Located right in the iconic heart of L.A. with palm trees, warm sunlight, and rolling hills, we arrived at the hospital and were immediately met by the graceful staff.

We unpacked the boxes of gifts and games in the teen room where the walls were adorned with pictures of stars and celebrities of all sorts. You can see that, even in the midst of Hollywood’s glitz and glamour, that people still want to be able to help children who are suffering from life-threatening illnesses.

We also gave the patients the opportunity to learn, laugh, and socialize even more so by bringing new games and, like all hospitals on the trip, were able to give the hospital one year game passes for all gift bags and to share with future patients who own Xbox one Consoles. Special thank you goes out to Microsoft once again for helping us supply these.

We are now able to bring XBox Game Passes to all families and supply the joy of gaming for all people who need to take their mind off of situations that are beyond their control.

On Thursday’s stop, we were truly in our own backyard, within a few miles actually, at CHOC in Mission Viejo where we handed out toys to patients up and down the halls.

One thing to note about these particular stops is that we weren’t quite able to meet and greet with the patients too much due to flu season and the safety precautions that are being taken by the staff at each of the hospitals. This is completely understandable this time of year and it truly displays the caring and genuine thought behind the practices involved with all the child life staff hospital staff.

2018 has been off to a wonderful start and we’re looking forward to making stops across the country. We were so happy we were able to spread some joy the local hospitals that are right by us in Southern California.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter for all news on the gamers give back tour.

The post Gamers Give Back in SoCal! first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

Stay tuned to this page and to all of our social media profiles like Twitter and Facebook for ways to purchase I, Hope, support GameChanger Charity simply by getting this great game, and more awesome details as the release date approaches!

The post I, Hope – A Game with Purpose first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

From raising funds and working with amazing partners like NVIDIA and Crystal Dynamics on donation campaigns to visiting children’s hospitals across the country with video games and wonderful gifts, 2017 was truly a GameChanger.

In case you’re just starting to learn more about who we are and what we do, here’s a breakdown of our four pillars (Click the link on the title of each section to see a specific event from this year!)

Gamers Give Back Tour – from north to south, east to west, we made 40 stops across the Great Plains and the big cities and met amazing people at each and every location we visited. Each time we made a stop we brought with us toys to donate on the day of our visit, a catered lunch for the Child Life staff, and had discussions about game equipment and what may be needed at the specific location.

GameChanger Play Days – imagine a day specifically designed to take the stress and anxiety away from a child’s stay in the hospital. Where video games and VR stations are set up throughout a large playroom, special guests come along, toys from partners like Hasbro are handed out, and kids get to try out the newest advances in virtual reality and play some classic games as well. Patients and their siblings all get to have a blast and simply be kids and are able to have fun without any worry… all wrapped up in a day to remember.

Character-Based Scholarship Program – Many times, when a teenager is admitted to the hospital with a serious life-threatening illness, their entire lives are put on hold. All dreams, talents, schooling, and family life takes a back seat to ensure they are getting on the right path to health and proper recovery. But then what? Time goes by and these young people are left with needing to pick up where they left off to catch back up with their goals. This is where the GameChanger Charity Character Based Scholarships come into play. Either we meet future recipients during our Gamers Give Back Tour stops or we have nominees suggested to us by the Child Life and hospital staff who work closely with these patients. The scholarship recipients are selected based off unique, creative, and loving characteristics they portray during their stay in the hospital. They leave a lasting impression on everyone they meet and we are proud to help out to bring their lives back up to speed in any way we can.

VR Camps – VR has been becoming a core focus for GameChanger Charity which is why we’re placing special emphasis on the technology and making it one of our 4 pillars. Over the course of 2018, we will visit 14 different sites and equip them with the hardware and software to run VR for patients.  We personally ship out the necessary equipment and one of our GameChanger team members will come to the hospital or camp to help with the set-up.  Once set-up is complete, we give a rundown of how to set it up and keep it running as well as various games, functions, and techniques which we have found to be most helpful in the hospital setting

We are planning for a huge 2018 right now and are looking to make an impact on average of one hospital per month.

As always, thank you so much for staying up on all things GameChanger! Be sure to follow us on Twitter in 2018!

The post Moving forward while looking back on 2017 first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

First off, we want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to our team of amazing streamers representing us at TwitchCon 2017 Charity Decathlon.

For Reference, this was our roster of players on the Charity Team: 

1. The Rocket League Rockdown: CrReam
2. Coloring for Dummies Challenge: SimplyJxn and Danotage
3. The Long beach Brawlhalla Beatdown: dmbrandon
4. Jingle all the Way Contest: Littlesiha and WyvernSlayer
5. Let The Sparcs Fly Challenge: A_jaxx
6. You Don’t Know Jack! Challenge: Kyente
7. The Sandwich Smashdown Challenge: Rypsii and lumiipvp
8. Tastes Like Chicken Challenge: Tashnarr
9. Build me up, Buttercup Challenge: 8BitDylan
10. Battle of the Musicians: VideoGameRapBattles

What can we say except WOW and THANK YOU! The attention you are bringing toward our mission is incredibly important and we couldn’t be happier about the enthusiasm shown by all of our Charity Team members who represented for us on the Tiltify Charity Stage.

Friday, the first day of TwitchCon, was a wonderful blur! Our booth was located in the Tiltify charity plaza. Many people came by our booth eager to say hello and many Hope The Monkey plush animals, GameChanger drawstring bags, stickers, and bracelets made their way into the hands of convention goers who support our cause!

Situated next to a Dance Dance Revolution arcade game, our booth attracted many different types of people. We had a ton of great swag on deck and spent time talking with all visitors who came to ask questions and learn more about GameChanger Charity.

As a bonus, our booth also had a new game that all could try out titled Ihope. Stay tuned to our blog as there is more to come on this soon!

The fun didn’t stop once the sun set. Just as soon as we wrapped up on the floor for day one we headed over to VillainCon, an amazing party put on by Blizzard. The party had two different levels of fun, featured exclusive masks and pins, and was set in the gorgeous Federal bar in Long Beach.

There was still one more stop to make! Tiltify hosted a party on the Queen Mary!! This incredible old cruise ship rests in the Long Beach harbor and is always a sight to see. Wonderful job at throwing the party, Tiltify!

Back to the convention floor…

Saturday brought with it a new crowd of visitors to the Charity Plaza. Our giveaway efforts were in full swing and many streamers were signing up with us to join up with us on future charity stream efforts!

When you walk around an event the size of TwitchCon you really start to get a feeling for all the different types of people who love gaming and the new platforms such as Twitch that are making it possible for all of us to join together in the world of live streaming. There are so many different artists, gamers, fans, and general enthusiasts who were all interacting with one another and enjoying their time together.

Oh yeah, there was Twitch merch. Can’t forget the Twitch merch!!!

Child’s Play Charity, our partners on the Gamers Give Back Tour, hosted an ENTIRE ARCADE where all games were free resting just behind their booth!

Not far from the arcade was the Design by Humans booth. Design by Humans has been wonderful in helping us get our name out and even created the shirts we wore for the event! You can check out the GameChanger merch they have helped us create by clicking on this page.

On Sunday, Nate and David, two of our GameChanger team members, joined forces with Able Gamers and Gamers Outreach to form the Charity Squad! Together, the Charity Squad took part in a Killer Queen gaming competition and, low and behold, placed as runners up only to one team, the Roof Riders! Needless to say, we were very excited for our team!!

Click here to see the 2017 list of exhibitors from the event.

We are so grateful to have been involved in TwitchCon 2017. The genuine interest in GameChanger from many people at the event is humbling for all of us and is incredibly appreciated.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter for all future events as we continue to grow and bring innovative tech and gaming to children suffering from life-threatening illnesses.

A HUGE Thanks to Twitch and Tiltify for organizing this massive event and including GameChanger Charity in the festivities!

Till next year!!!!

The post GameChanger Charity at TwitchCon 2017 first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

The final month of summer began with a stop in Burlington, Vermont at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital. On August 7, our very own Brandon Llinas joined forces with Erick Blandin, who is with us on many of the Gamers Give Back Tour stops, from Childs Play, and met up with Sierra Scheller, head of the Child Life team of specialists at the hospital.

Sierra showed our team around the facilities and helped put together a free forum style event where, rather than visit room-to-room, arranged it so gifts could be distributed in one location of the hospital. The patients, many of them older kids and teenagers at this particular stop, came to us where they received gifts along the lines of Monopoly board games and Skylander action figures accompanied by Hope stuffed animals and Childs Play blankets.

A couple days later on August 10^th, Brandon continued on to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland, Maine where he met with Liz Shaughnessy, her team of Child Life Specialists, and a total amount of 55 kids.

The hospital was gorgeous and serves as a wonderful example of a facility that caters to the needs of their patients. The children were appreciative of the gifts they received which included toys from Hasbro, one of our amazing donors.

The team went room-to-room handing out toys, chatting with patients and families, and were welcomed by smiling faces as they handed out GGB Tour bags filled with fun items.

Later in the month, David Arditti, one our awesome GameChanger team members, traveled to Nebraska to make a couple special stops for the tour.

After David’s visit to Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, Rob Harding, Community Resource Specialist, sent us this heartfelt and genuine thank you letter:

“ I wanted to thank you effusively for Erick and David’s visit and for the lunch! What a tremendous gift you all provided for our patients and staff and we can’t thank you enough. I can only imagine the time, thought, energy and effort that goes into planning a visit like this – you all are a well-oiled machine. I’d also like to thank everyone for their overwhelming generosity in providing the bags of gifts for our patients, too! Wow!

Then, on August 24^th, David Arditti, along with players from the Iowa Cubs, made a visit to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines.

David sent this write-up back to GC Headquarters as a recap of his visit:

We met Lori in the lobby of Blank’s who showed us to the room and brought the gifts a little before 9.  We started the day collecting gift bags for the patients and were joined by the Cubs shortly after who helped put the bags together.  We all chatted with the Cubs team who were eager to help and enthusiastic about the cause.  Once we were all packed we went to the rooms.

The Cubs team members and the Child life staff distributed the bags to the patients, who were all very excited to be visited by the team and their mascot.  After that, the Cubs departed and we got a tour of the facility, their PICU and a couple playrooms.  Then we finished the day having lunch with the Child Life staff and chatting about their tech questions.

Shelby, the team representative for the Iowa Cubs, wrote a wonderful note to us about their experience:

“We have been fortunate to visit Blank Children’s, but never before today were we able to have our hearts touched by the passion that GameChanger and Childs Play shared with our players. Yes, we have passed our baseballs to the kids and walked the halls- but never have we seen kids faces light up when they received the gift bags that we felt so honored to deliver. Whether the patient identified with our baseball uniforms, the baseballs, or CUBBIE our mascot… we definitely hit a home run for the kids at Blank Children’s.”

Our mission continues! As summer time winds down and everyone goes back to school we’re working toward connecting with more companies who share our passion to bring innovative technology to hospitals worldwide. Learn more about how you can help GameChanger Charity and follow us on Twitter!

The post Gamers Give Back Across The U.S.A. first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

More often than not, when we visit hospitals, the patients we meet are going through mental and physical strain due to the nature of the treatments they’re receiving. At each and every stop, we do our best to bring a smile to the face of the children and families we meet by supplying a break from their time in the hospital.

While we strive to bring a bit of hope to every stop throughout the Gamers Give Back Tour, there are times we feel compelled to make an extra push to create a larger than life moment. On Wednesday August 23^rd, together with the good folks at Morgan Stanley Hospital in New York City, GameChanger Day was one of those moments.

Before the kids arrived in the game room, we set up an Xbox one with NBA 2K17, Minecraft, Halo 5, and LEGO Marvel Superheroes. We also had a PS4 with a Guitar Hero station ready to go so everyone could rock out as needed! Not long after we finished setting up, many different patients, along with their parents and siblings, arrived with pleasantly surprised looks on their faces. It was time to have some fun!

Nate, our resident VR expert, brought our virtual reality set up and shared new and exciting worlds with the children. The kids loved creating sculptures, characters and shapes using Medium. Faces across the room lit up when the kid’s realized they could create a sculpture in 3D and walk around with it. We also had the PS4 VR complete with a driving wheel and pedals with Driveclub ready to go along with Eagle Flight and Google Earth VR on our two Oculus Rift with Touch Controllers set-ups.

Sometimes, the raucous nature of a playroom at a hospital can be a bit intimidating for a child. It’s extremely important that we remain sensitive to the needs of the patients. In these cases, it’s the small things that count to make every child feel included. One of the boys we met was a bit shy and quietly mentioned to his mom that his favorite streamer had played Job Simulator in VR. We looked up the game and downloaded it on the spot. The mom and son duo, in which the young man used his right hand while his mom helped control with her left, played for 40 minutes and enjoyed every moment of it.

The hit of the showcase? A 4 Player version of Rocket League (think of it as soccer but with rocket-powered trucks) projected onto a jumbo screen! 4 kids at a time were at the helm clutching Xbox controllers while music from the awesome game soundtrack and sound effects emanated from a large state of the art speaker.  The matches were epic to say the least and culminated in the last game of the day where the kids were on a 4-player team against 4 CPUs.  The kids were down 4 points and came back in the last 90 seconds and won by a point!

A huge thanks to each and every team member on the Child Life staff at Morgan Stanley Hospital. We’re already in talks with their team on expanding our relationship to help build out their VR experience in the hospital and will be assisting with upgrading their teen lounge in the near future.

Like all of our efforts, none of this would be possible if not for the help of our amazing supporters who host the fundraisers that keep GameChanger Charity moving along. This past year, we had incredible efforts hosted by San Francisco Giants baseball star Hunter Pence and YouTube/Streamer star (and all around good guy) Markiplier. Portions of the funds raised from each of their efforts went toward making GameChanger Day a reality.

Engadget wrote a beautiful piece about the day. Check out this excerpt:

GameChanger takes just about anything that companies are willing to give, much of it being items that are just slightly too old for sale and are destined to be destroyed anyway. That includes tablets, gaming consoles, games and even marketing goods. Jim said GameChanger wasn’t allowed to bring tech on a recent trip to Cuba but was able to bring shirts and hats from gaming companies, which the children loved. “We’ll take anything that’s new, that’s excess material that can be repurposed that these families would love to have,” said Jim.

Click here to read the entire article.

Keep up with GameChanger Charity! Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all of our events and efforts!

The post GameChanger Day Celebrates Giving, Gaming for Children in Hospitals first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

When you think of a classic game, what comes to mind? Maybe its a first person shooting duel or a versus game, or maybe its something more than that. Maybe it’s a game that has become iconic in more ways than one. If that’s the case, there may be a solid chance that what got you into gaming was an adventure game along the lines of Tomb Raider.

Whether you played it as a kid when it first came out on a console or saw the blockbuster movies before you played it on a PC, the Tomb Raider universe and all the characters that inhabit it are unique and stand the test of time while being known the world over.

We had three different game bundles, all under 25.00, and added a 50.00 bundle that included some awesome GameChanger swag. All of the limited edition bundles were made available on Tiltify. The bundles were composed of steam key game codes that were emailed directly to the donor and included Legacy of Kain games, Pandemonium, Project Snowblind, and Tomb Raider games.

We also hosted a giveaway to give a little GameChanger Charity heave-ho to the overall effort. The giveaway helped to spread the word for us, Crystal Dynamics, and Square Enix and helped in gaining new followers for all three entities along with ultimately setting more eyes on the campaign.

To say the least, the response from around the world was warm and heartfelt. Below are a couple kind notes from people who purchased the bundles –

“Greetings from Romania!
I am a huge fan of video games and those in need sometimes make my heart melt, i can`t afford to donate much more than than this amount but i am sure that together we can put a smile on their faces, every cent making a difference in their lives !” 

“I already have half of these games but giving to this charity is worth it! :)”

“This is an awesome charity and who knows when I’ll actually get around to playing these but I’m currently going to school to become a video game developer and would love to eventually be as good as the people who work at crystal dynamics, and keep up the awesome work you’re doing for this charity!!!”

Our Twitter page saw the effects of 250+ retweets and our reach on Facebook was seen by over 110,000 users! To name a few, online publications such as IGN, Videogamer, and Gamasutra, all helped out in a big way by picking up the press release and sharing the details about the anniversary sale with their base of readers.

When all was said and done, the campaign raised 30,202.00!

We would like thank each and every publication that picked up the press release and every person who donated and supported us in our efforts. It is truly through the kindness of others that we are able to achieve our vision for the children and staff at hospitals nationally and throughout the world.

We’re always gearing up for upcoming efforts to keep up with pushing our mission in the right direction. Stay up to date on all of our efforts, including fun gaming events and great deals on games, by following our Twitter or Facebook page!

The post Gamers Unite for The Crystal Dynamics 25th Anniversary first appeared on GameChanger Charity.