Well…That. Was. Wild!
We’ve officially wrapped the 2nd Annual Spooktacular Streamathon and it was certainly one for the books!
When we kicked off this year’s event, we had high hopes. We wanted a unique, month-long fundraising event where a variety of content creators, community members, and supporters could hang out, game together, and have fun all while helping to make play accessible for hospitalized kids and families. We’d like to think that happened…and then some!
For 31 spooky days, more than 525 streamers went live to raise money for Gamers Outreach programs and initiatives. Over 20 teams and organizations rallied for the cause, and sponsors even showed up in streams with surprise donation drops. For many broadcasters, it was their first ever charity stream!
There were a multitude of touching stories shared throughout the month – always giving us a reminder of who and why we were rallying for. Everyone really showed up.
Did we mention our grand total yet?
$771,524 was raised… FOR THE KIDS! Absolutely incredible on so many levels.
ICYMI, there were hilarious dance moves, epic costumes, hilarious dance moves in epic costumes, delicious recipes, soooooo many temporary tattoos (and promises of real ones too), weird food challenges, countless beanboozled tastings, impressive pumpkin carvings, jump scares on jump scares, sing alongs, tons of game play… the list really just goes on! Be sure to peep the reel for a small glimpse of what went down!
With COVID still relevant, patients continue to face isolation. Our hope is that GO programs can bring moments of joy and normalcy to kids and families in hospitals. In the coming months, we’ll be focusing on five areas of impact that donations from SS2021 will support.
First, we’ll be doing a maintenance check on our GO Karts that are in the wild. We’ll provide system and equipment updates to a portion of our existing GO Kart fleet.
Second, GO Karts will be shipped to over 15 U.S. medical facilities and for many hospitals, it will be their first GO Kart(s)! We’ll also be sending GO Karts to three international locations…location unlocked updates to follow!
Third, as part of our global expansion efforts, we’re exploring GO Kart design and manufacturing modifications that could make our Karts more sustainable and our international logistics more efficient. This initiative has long term benefits for Project GO Kart.
Fourth, you may recall earlier this year when we introduced some new concept programs that we were putting effort and funding towards, Portal and Save Point. Portal is a software that we have developed that makes video game content easy to manage at-scale. The program has been beta tested on a small scale but will now enter a more expansive testing phase.
Finally, Save Points are high-tech distribution machines that will be tested inside select hospitals. We’ll be stocking these machines with a variety of products to serve as distribution hubs for patients who are progressing through treatment. Expect more updates from these programs in the coming months!
As we close out SS2021, our team wants to thank everyone who joined us for this year’s event! Also, massive thanks to our event sponsors ASTRO, NXZT, The Truman Factory, Adamas, and Aim Lab. We truly couldn’t do what we do without our dedicated and generous supporters. Event participation and funds raised were record breaking but what gamers and their communities accomplished together is the real treat!
Till next time!