Can You Imagine?

For anyone who's spent an evening in the cold and sterile halls of a hospital, what was it that kept you sane? Perhaps you had someone nearby to make conversation with? Maybe you had a smart phone at your side, which you used to look at silly pictures that your cousin posts, in a vain attempt to keep your mind off the reason why you were stuck in a waiting room. As the battery life of your phone started to dwindle and the reality of your situation set in, did you become conscious of the person nearby who was coughing deeply? Did you pray that whatever foul infection they had wasn't contagious, as you shuffled awkwardly in your uncomfortable seat? Imagine the lousy evening you spent in that hospital, perhaps waiting on a doctor for yourself, or even a loved one to be diagnosed. Now I want you to picture that same evening, spread out over the course of days, weeks, months, or maybe even years.

I have a hard time imagining what it's like for someone to spend an extended amount of time in a hospital, but it's next to impossible for me to comprehend what that's like for a child. When I think of my own childhood, I imagine the freedom to go where I wanted, the ability to go outside, and spend my evenings in front of a television, playing my favorite video games. For many of the children at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital however, that might not be an option. Even in the darkest moments of my childhood my health was completely fine, and I had the opportunity to escape into the fantasy world of video games, which captivated my imagination. It pains my heart to think of a child going through something far worse than anything I could have thought up in my childhood, without a way to entertain themselves.

GameZilla Media has banded together to run a charity in order to bring just a bit of fun and joy to the children of C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. In a partnership with Gamers Outreach, we've begun accepting donations for a GO Kart, a portable gaming station for the kids to use. On December 8th, we'll be doing a live stream on Twitch, where we'll have fun event milestones, in an effort to get more people involved, as we request donations for a very worthy cause. If you have the ability to give, it's greatly appreciated; even if you can't though, any bit of exposure helps! Share our donation page with your friends and loved ones, and maybe we'll be able to make some children happy this season.

-Craig_WK