Gamers Supporting Charity
As gaming becomes much more widely accepted by the mainstream of today's society, the idea of using that shared passion to have a positive impact on the world at large is becoming increasingly common place. For several years now, The Syndicate (www.LLTS.org) has been using its annual convention (SyndCon) to raise money for charity. This year was the 10th annual SyndCon. It took place in Seattle during August and for 5 days many game developers, hardware manufacturers, friends and guests along with 200 Syndicate members gathered together for fun; testing/feedback/consulting and, of course, raising money for charity.
The Syndicate is a supporter of two charities: The American Cancer Society and Youth Opportunity Unlimited. The YOU team was present at SyndCon 2011 to share stories of the work that they do and how the support from a group of gamers can and does make a tangible difference to their success.
To raise money for charity, each SyndCon features a raffle. There were over 500 items in the charity raffle this year ranging from T-Shirts... to copies of games... to Coolermaster and Fractal Design PC cases... to gift certificates to the Sony store... to Alienware Laptops... to weekend get-aways at a Texas Ranch... to Razer gaming mice... and much more. Attendees purchased tickets and there was a big drawing on the final day of the event.
When all of the tickets were counted, $10,000 had been raised for charity. Many of the attendees took home prizes with many receiving bags stuffed full of gaming-geek schwag of all shapes and sizes. The money raised will help in the fight against cancer and help keep under privileged kids off the streets after school with mentoring, tutoring and other fun activities.
