The $2,520 question

I don’t have a separate blog for fundraising efforts yet. Maybe I should.

For those who haven’t seen it yet, check out my Extra Life fundraising page. The goal may seem a bit high, but yes, I’m for real. $2,520. That’s 105 people pledging $1/hour for the 24-hour event.

If you’re not familiar with Extra Life, it’s a fundraising effort started in 2008 by Sarcastic Gamer, benefiting pediatric cancer research at Texas Children’s Hospital. The event itself is a 24-hour video gaming marathon. Some of you may not know me that well, but I have been a rather avid video gamer over the years. I’ve sort of taken a break from video gaming, but I’ll just say I’ve been around video games long enough to know up-up-down-down-B-A-B-A-start. (Sadly, I never got enough time in playing Pac-Man to learn the patterns. My mom and grandparents had this strange notion that keeping my grades up in elementary school was more important than blowing my allowance on “those silly video games.”)

Anyway, enough of me waxing nostalgic. This year’s event takes place on 2009 October 17 (through the early morning hours of October 18).

There are two people close to me that are my inspiration to be a part of this fundraiser and other events like it. One is my best friend, the other is a younger cousin. Both were diagnosed with forms of cancer at rather young ages. The cause goes far beyond them, of course; way too many kids get cancer at young ages.

I have no ulterior motives here. This is only about me and my quest to help one great cause. I’m up for a 24-hour video gaming marathon. I hope enough of you out there are up for contributing to my chosen cause.

(Edit: added links to the respective Web sits for Extra Life and Sarcastic Gamer.)