The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has been spreading like wildfire, which is fabulous. ALS is a more than a worthy cause. But don’t forget that there are a lot of other amazing charities. Personally, I’m a big fan of Hospice. What those men and woman do is heartbreaking hard work that truly makes a difference. The last year of my father’s life would’ve been drastically different if Hospice hadn’t helped us.
Of course if you don’t have a charity that you already have an emotional attachment for then I suggest checking out Gamers for Cures, founded by Dan Patriss.
“Gamers for Cures is something I came up with about 4 years ago,” Patriss said. “Shortly after Lauren, my daughter, got diagnosed with Turner Syndrome, I wanted to find a way to give back. At the time there were tons of people doing Extra Life for video gaming, but almost no one was doing it for board games. Since we have about the best community of any for any hobby I decided to try and create a charity. The initial idea was to do 2 events a year. One, our main one would be a 24 hour Board Game Marathon to benefit Turner Syndrome Society of the US, and the other a Breast cancer walk in the spring.”
Every year, Patriss runs a 24 hour gaming marathon. It’s like the walks/runs you see for cancer only instead of walking, gamers game! It’s not so much about playing games straight for twenty four hours as it is about raising money and trying to spread word about Turner Syndrome.
“The main point of the marathon is to raise awareness and money for Turner Syndrome,” Patriss said. “Turner Syndrome (TS) is a chromosomal condition that describes girls and women with common features that are caused by complete or partial absence of the second sex chromosome. Common problems include short stature, premature ovarian failure, thyroid problems, and heart and kidney abnormalities. TS occurs in approximately 1 of every 2,000 live female births and is responsible for as many as 10% of all miscarriages.”
As a precursor to this year’s 24 hour event, which takes place on November 4th, Patriss and some other gamer media types have created the #DiceInTheMouthChallenge. To participate you take a photo of yourself with dice in your mouth, post it onto any social media site and then donate at least $1 toward the Turner Syndrome Society.
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND that this challenge can be a choking hazard. Do not let children do it and do not do it alone. Seriously, this is eighteen & up only!
“The Dice in the mouth challenge was started by Stephen Avery,” Patriss said. “He had been wanting to find a good way to help us out for the event since we spoke at length one night at Origins. This week he tweeted out a harmless picture of himself with dice in his mouth and the link to the Gamers For Cure First Giving site. We decided to keep challenging people and see what we can make this become.”
Keep in mind that if you don’t happen to own dice or simply aren’t very social then you can still help by chipping in as little as a $1!