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Extra Life – Play Games, Heal Kids

Clayton Harbour

Extra Life – Play Games, Heal Kids

My son and I have been participating in an event every year to raise money for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.  The event happens every year around this time and this is one of two events to raise money for a charity that he looks forward to on a yearly basis.  I’ll mention the other as well, Ruben’s Ruckus which is a race held annually in the spring to raise funds and awareness for education in other countries.

Extra-Life is a charity event that does things with a bit of a twist, their tagline is “Play Games, Heal Kids”.  It operates through the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and provides funds for hospitals locally such as the BC Children’s Hospital where my son was born.  We choose Extra-Life as “our event” for a couple of reasons, let me tell you a bit about the event and hopefully inspire you to either raise or donate money to the cause.

The first reason is obvious: you get to play games for 24h.  It is obvious that video games are something that most kids get behind and enjoy.  This was a huge part of my childhood and I am happy to say it’s also a large part of my son’s life.  To have an event where we can share that activity, bond and raise money and awareness for a good cause, hells yeah, count us in!

The second reason is that you get to play games for 24h.  Seriously though, playing video games all the time isn’t healthy, nor is spending excessive amounts of time in front of a screen.  Then again drinking too much water isn’t healthy either but luckily through years of evolution, we’ve developed controls in our body that reduce the chances of bad things happening.  

Putting that aside if you can find areas of your life that you are passionate about and fill you with joy and also do good in the world then those are worthwhile things to pursue.  Even if it’s just the passion first that moves you along, go with that and look for opportunities for the good. Those opportunities are always there and they get easier and easier to find the more you look for them.  Just remember to drink enough water while persuing them…but not too much water.

My son and I have been participating in the event 3 years in a row (shout out to William and Shelby for championing this) since I started Salesforce.  They have helped introduce the Vancouver office to the Salesforce Fragforce team.  I work with a lot of ex-gamers from all walks, Activision, Electronic Arts, Riot and an event like this provides a way of sharing something we are passionate about this sub-culture with the larger group.  I work with a lot of caring individuals and the event is a perfect way to come together for a great cause and raise money for a good cause.

In the spirit of team I’d like to share a video story of Gianna.  Gianna is a child that was born premature and now lives a normal life thanks to the incredible team of health professionals she met in her early life and the joy that she brought into theirs.  What I like about Gianna’s story is that it gives a special thanks to the incredible team behind her journey into the world and the lives that she has touched in turn.  

Thanks so much for reading and if I have inspired you to donate here are some links:

References

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