Back in 2003, Penny Arcade authors Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins challenged their readers to change public perception of video games and the individuals who play them. Among the initiatives the duo created was Child’s Play, a charity that aims to bring joy to children currently residing in hospitals and domestic abuse shelters through the power of video games. To date, the charity has raised almost $45 million, a number that continues to grow each day.
I spoke with the executive director of Child’s Play for the past 2 years, Travis Eriksen, about Child’s Play and the work the group does. According to Eriksen, the charity’s goal is to “promote the power of play” through video games. The charity offers two options for various children’s hospitals seeking help. For larger institutions, Child’s Play offers a yearly gift package, consisting of video game consoles, games, accessories, and a check for miscellaneous goods, in order to personalize each gift. For smaller children’s hospitals or individual wings of adult hospitals, a grant program is available. Here, the institutions describe what resources they need and Child’s Play puts a package together to send over. These packages are much smaller than ones for the larger hospitals, as they’re usually made for about a dozen patients versus upwards of 400.
At the behest of a fan, the organization also started working with domestic abuse shelters, as most of these families need to flee without their belonging, often leaving trivial item such as video games behind. Counselors can use video games to break the ice with children who might have been victims of domestic abuse, rather than trying to get to know them from across a table.
The organization has continued to evolve from simply giving games out at children’s hospitals to now even sponsoring Child Life techs to assist nurses and hospital staff with their new electronics.
An interesting fact about the organization is that it rarely does its own fundraisers. While they do a dinner auction in December, fundraisers are often performed by other groups, such as Desert Bus. who have raised almost $4 million for Child’s Play alone. Eriksen told me a story of a 6-year old girl who, rather than asking for presents for her birthday, told her friends and family to instead donate to Child’s Play - and raised over $300 dollars in the process.
Eriksen provided other awesome stories, all discussing the power of video games. One conversation Eriksen had was with a new child life director, who was skeptical of virtual reality. A 16-year old girl ended up being a difficult patient after her car crash, not following her rehab exercises. However, that all changed when she first used a VR headset, to the point where doctors had to advise she remove the headset due to moving her head too much. Another great story has Eriksen spending a half-hour talking to a 19 year old patient about games, Penny Arcade, life and more, especially since his family and friends rarely were able to visit him. Eriksen mentioned that while most of the attention for children’s hospitals is based on younger children, sometimes patients will attend “children’s” hospitals until they’re 25, due to relationships with doctors or other outside factors. Unfortunately, these patients are often forgotten in lieu of the younger patients, so it was refreshing that Eriksen took the time out to speak with the young man.
Interested donors can go to the Child’s Play website and learn how to donate, but according to Eriksen, the sky’s the limit on donation ideas. Streaming, LAN Parties, birthday presents, and more are all great ideas to help out!
For additional info, please watch the video below about Child’s Play.
