Extra-Life 2016

It is that time of year again! Time for me to beg you for donations to, in my opinion, one of the most honorable causes there is: The wellbeing of children.

For the uninitiated, Extra-Life is a charity that raises money for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, who support children in the hospital, often for scary stuff like a heart condition or cancer, when their families can't. All of the money that I raise gets earmarked for the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania, headquartered here in Philadelphia and serving the entire state.

Donations are tax-deductible and secure, and Children's Miracle Network is so transparent and responsible with how they spend collected donations that they are rated 4/4 stars on Charity Navigator.

I believe it was last year around this time that my niece had open heart surgery. She just had another one last week. She has an artificial heart valve and a pacemaker. She's still at CHOP recovering. She's 4 years old. She is fortunate enough to have been adopted by a family with good health insurance; but not everyone is. And that is why I do this every year. For kids who have done nothing wrong but who are born with a heart defect, or get cancer, or get hurt in a car accident. They deserve our love and our support, and the healthcare system in this country will sideline them if we don't step up to the plate.

So I play games on their behalf in the hope that you will skip a cup of coffee and donate a few dollars instead. Sure it's fun, but it's also a constant reminder of how fragile life is and how lucky we are to be alive right now.

Get something in return

This year I thought I would sweeten the pot, too:

From now until we start playing (that's 8:00 am US-Eastern on 11/19), 100% of profits earned through the sales of my book will be donated to my campaign. The book costs $19 and my cut –$17.80– will go to charity.

Streaming Live?

In recent years I've spent the majority of the time on a Google Hangout, but I thought I might try streaming it live on Facebook this year.