Teens Helping Charity In a Unique Way

Aug. 6, 2009 - PRLog -- While most teens are out with friends or at the movies, four teens from Rose Hill, Kansas are raising money for charity, but not how you might think.  Instead of penny drives and going door-to-door, these teens are playing video games.  And, from August 9 to August 12 in one bedroom in Rose Hill, that's all they're doing.

"We heard about this great charity, Child's Play, that gives toys and games to hospitals for sick kids to play with," says Michael Mays, one of the four teenagers participating, "but we didn't know how we wanted to raise money for it.  We didn't really have any typical 'money raising' skills."  So, the teens figured how to use their hobby, video games, to raise money.

"We saw these guys online, and they did a similar thing; playing video games for charity," says Michael Whinery, another of the participants.  "It looked like so much fun that we thought 'we might as well do that'."

The teens stream the game play, as well as two webcams, online and include a link where watchers can donate directly to Child's Play.  "We'll of course switch on and off," explains Dylan Waller, "We will have one person playing all the time and another person in front of the computer interacting with the audience; reminding them to donate and entertaining them."

The teens united under the name "Marathons Avast!," indicating their hope for future marathons for different charities.  "We're hoping to get around $500 for Child's Play.  If this one goes well, we may do more, or even get a website," describes Dalton Plummer, the fourth participant.

To watch, you can go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/72-hour-video-game-marathon... for the video stream and chat.  The link to donate is at the bottom of the page.

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Marathon's Avast! is a group of teenagers seeking to raise money for deserving charities by playing video game marathons.