Child's Play (charity)
Encyclopedia
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
founded by the authors of the popular computer and video games-based webcomic
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
Penny Arcade
Penny Arcade (webcomic)
Penny Arcade is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website loonygames.com. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have established their own site, which is typically updated with a new comic...
that organizes worldwide toy drives to children's hospitals. Mike Krahulik
Mike Krahulik
Mike Krahulik is the artist for the popular webcomic Penny Arcade and co-founder with Jerry Holkins of Child's Play, a multimillion dollar charity that organizes toy drives for children's hospitals. He goes by the online moniker "Jon Gabriel" or "Gabe"...
and Jerry Holkins
Jerry Holkins
Keith Gerald "Jerry" Holkins né Parkinson is the writer of the webcomic Penny Arcade and co-founder of Child's Play, a multimillion dollar charity that organizes toy drives for children's hospitals...
founded Child's Play in 2003 to improve the lives of sick children by donating toys and games to hospitals worldwide. The charity is also seen as a way to refute mainstream media's perception of gamers as violent and antisocial. Through Child's Play, donors have sent over ten million dollars in toys, games and books to children's hospitals all over the world.
Logistics
With the help of hospital staff, Child's Play volunteers set up gift wishlists on Amazon.comAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, full of video games, books, toys, and movies. When the hospital's wishlist is completed, they are then added to the map on the Child's Play website. Gamers and others online click through to the lists and buy items for patients. Everything ships directly from Amazon to the hospital. The Amazon links are associate's links, so Amazon pays Child's Play a small commission on each purchase. 100% of that money goes to the hospitals. Instead of buying items off the wishlists users can donate money through PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
or check. Again, 100% of all donations are distributed to the hospitals, paying for pediatric research, facility improvements, etc. During the month of October, the webmasters of Penny Arcade make a big kickoff announcement, which then gets spread by the online community through blog posts, news links, and forum avatars.
The charity also has a space for corporate sponsors who have donated gifts, cash, or traffic. The sponsors also earn a corporate sponsorship level (Silver, Gold and Platinum) and get linked back on both Penny-Arcade.com and Childsplaycharity.org. These sponsors include several video game marathons such as the Mario Marathon
Mario Marathon
Mario Marathon is an annual fund raiser for Child's Play Charity. As of July 18, 2011, the event has raised a total of $235,901.08 in the four years it has been running. In 2008, the event organizers also orchestrated a smaller Zelda marathon that managed to bring in an additional $2,477.00 for...
and Desert Bus for Hope.
History
Child's Play was announced on November 24, 2003 by the authors of Penny Arcade as a challenge to their readership, and as a response to the often negative portrayal of video gamers in the media, most notably a HeraldNet article by Bill France entitled "Violent video games are training children to kill." (He later made an apology in the same column and praised the effort.) It received positive press on many popular weblogs, including SlashdotSlashdot
Slashdot is a technology-related news website owned by Geeknet, Inc. The site, which bills itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters", features user-submitted and ‑evaluated current affairs news stories about science- and technology-related topics. Each story has a comments section...
and received direct endorsement from Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton
Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers...
. In less than one month of publicity and operation, the charity raised over $250,000 in cash and toys for the Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.
In 2004, the charity was expanded and partnered with children's hospitals in Seattle; Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
; San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
; Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
By January 5, 2005, when the final numbers for 2004 were tabulated, the charity had raised over $310,000 ($60,000 more than the previous year), and gained forty corporate sponsors in the process. Among these sponsors were Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
, Midway Games
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
, Cerulean Studios
Cerulean Studios
Cerulean Studios is a software house based in Connecticut, United States, notable for developing Trillian, an instant messaging client.It was founded in May 1998 by Kevin Kurtz and Scott Werndorfer. While still living at his parent's home, Werndorfer used $10,000 of his savings to start Cerulean...
, and THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
.
In 2005, the charity was again expanded to partner with an additional seven children's hospitals across the United States, as well as children's hospitals in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is also partnered with Alder Hey Children's Hospital
Alder Hey Children's Hospital
Alder Hey Children Hospital is a children's hospital in West Derby, Liverpool. It is run by the Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust as part of the National Health Service in England...
in Liverpool, England. At the time when they stopped accepting donations, the community had raised $605,000. There was an auction to appear in a Penny Arcade comic strip at the 2005 Child's Play Charity Dinner. The winning bid of $20,000 was placed by Christian Boggs. Mr. Boggs also placed the winning bid on an original pencil sketch of the PAX
Penny Arcade Expo
The Penny Arcade Expo is a semi-annual gamer festival held in Seattle and Boston. PAX was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic, because they wanted to attend a show that gave equal attention to console gamers, computer gamers, and tabletop...
2005 program cover on eBay. 100% of the profits went to the American Red Cross.
In 2006, the charity was further expanded, adding four hospitals in the United States, two in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and one in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. In addition to this, on December 13, 2006 there was a charity dinner and auction, where items participants were able to bid on included a gaming day for four in the Penny Arcade office, an appearance in a Penny Arcade strip, a tour of Bungie and recording session for the voice of a character in Halo 3
Halo 3
Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
, and a two year subscription to World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
and the Burning Crusade special edition signed by all the developers. The year 2006 also became the first time that the 1 million dollar mark was reached.
In 2007, the charity added a hospital each in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
During 2008 Penny Arcade Expo
Penny Arcade Expo
The Penny Arcade Expo is a semi-annual gamer festival held in Seattle and Boston. PAX was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic, because they wanted to attend a show that gave equal attention to console gamers, computer gamers, and tabletop...
, Harmonix announced that three songs from the Expo will be made available for download for the Rock Band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
video game. The proceeds of these three songs will go to the charity.
On November 13, 2009, Mike Krahulik announced that after one week, the Child’s Play 2009 total had already reached $455,863.80.
In 2010, Epic Games
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...
held a vote-by-purchase event between July 29 and September 6 to determine the fate of a character, Clayton Carmine, in their upcoming game Gears of War 3
Gears of War 3
Gears of War 3 is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360. Originally due for release in April 2011, the game was delayed and eventually released on September 20, 2011....
. Gamers voted by purchasing Xbox avatar T-Shirts through Xbox live, or real life t-shirts at the San Diego Comic-Con, with all purchases counting towards the vote. The voting campaign raised over $150,000, all of which was donated to Child's Play.
In 2011 Mike Krahulik announced the first annual Child's Play Invitational Golf Tournament to be held at the Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena, California on June 5, 2011. All proceeds from the event go to the partner hospitals & facilities in the Child's Play network.
Annual totals
- 2003: $250,000
- 2004: $310,000
- 2005: $605,000
- 2006: $1,024,000
- 2007: $1,300,000
- 2008: $1,434,377
- 2009: $1,780,870
- 2010: $2,294,317
- 2011: $1,225,000 (as of 01-Dec)
- Running Total: $10,223,564