Last week, we delivered a GO Kart to The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (known as “The James”)! This is the first GO Kart we’ve delivered to a hospital affiliated with The Ohio State University!
Take it from us, the worst way to introduce yourself to a group of people from OSU is to let them know you’re from Ann Arbor, Michigan! Thankfully, everyone played nice – it was for the kids.
But seriously, we’re incredibly proud to support patients and families receiving care at The James. For those who don’t know, The James is a treatment / research institute dedicated to creating a cancer-free world. It’s one of the 45 National Comprehensive Cancer hospitals, and as of this blog post, is the third largest cancer hospital in the United States. As part of OSU, The James provides treatment to a wide range of patients, and works to pioneer research in an effort to eliminate cancer.
This particular GO Kart will exist within the hospital’s radiation oncology unit, which is where patients undergo radiation therapy to eliminate cancer cells. Many patients who visit the hospital for treatment face weeks of visits – and it’s easy for anxiety to take hold. Oftentimes the hospital’s waiting room is filled with nervous kids (and parents) who could use some much needed relief in the midst of uncertainty. In the words of one of the hospital’s staff, “…games help provide patients with a mental place of normalcy and comfort in an otherwise weird scenario…”
We hope this GO Kart is a benefit to the hospital and those it supports for many years to come. For those interested in getting involved: staff at The James told us they’d love to have more GO Karts. If you live near Ohio, or would simply like to support our effort to provide more GO Karts to this location, you can start fundraising, or make a general donation in support of our cause.
It’s great to see another GO Kart in the wild, and with this delivery, we’re now supporting 17 children’s hospitals across the country. This is also one of the last 1.0 GO Karts we’ll be deploying as we look towards launching the new generation of carts later this year.
More good things to come! Thanks for your continued support, fellow gamers!