Gaming marathon to raise funds for local children’s hospital

November 7, 2014

Written By Kassie Mullican

Staff Writer

Are in into classic Retro Machine games like Atari? Fancy yourself a game of chess? Do you like to indulge with Japanese gaming? Uno, Monopoly, Pokémon, Rock Band, Mario, Halo and Call of Duty… Those are just a handful of games you can expect to see at this year’s Extra Life event hosted by the Campus Gamers of CSUB club on Saturday, Oct. 25.

With over 500 video games, board games, card games, and tabletop games there is something for everyone.

Coming in at 15^th place out of 5,000 teams in North America, the Campus Gamers Extra Life event is one of the largest gaming marathon fundraisers for Make a Difference Day and its right here in our backyard.

And it gets even better… All proceeds benefit our local Lauren Smalls Children’s Medical Center. That’s right, every penny raised stays right here to help the children in our community.

This is Team Bakersfield’s third year participating in Extra Life and each year the event has grown both in participation and money raised.

“Club members were going to participate individually, which is ridiculous because we like to play together. So it made sense to invite others to join our group event” said Ed Webb, advisor to the Campus Gamers of CSUB club.

In 2012, the Extra Life event had 80 participants and raised $4,300. In 2013, participation increased to 210, raised $10,000 and Team Bakersfield finished #31 out of 3,800 teams.

The Team Bakersfield expects 500 participants for 2014 with a goal to raise $20,000 for LSCMC.

“I am looking forward to raising an ungodly amount of money for our children’s hospital this year” said Webb.

Currently, there are 240 registered gamers and $8,246 has been raised. Donations are expected to continue flowing in all the way up to the closing of the event.

“The whole event is exciting. It is nice to see the gaming community come together for a good cause.” said Rosie Cha, a junior nursing major, is looking forward to participating in this year’s Extra Life event.

Vice president of the Campus Gamers Mario Hernandez says his favorite part is seeing so many people come out to play while supporting a great cause. People can have fun while making a difference.

“It’s bigger and better this year. We are in the top 20 out of 3,000 teams and we haven’t even started yet” says Hernandez.

Are you thinking to yourself “How do I sign up?” well it’s not too late, you can still register to participate all the way up to the day of on the website.

Come join the CSUB Campus Gamers club for the gaming event of the year and help make a difference in the lives of children in our community.

Extra Life Game Day Info