Child's Play Goes Live For 2006

GiovanniZero writes "Child's Play, the Penny-Arcade based charity just kicked off their 2006 season. Stop by, donate and bring some cheer to sick kids all over the world. 'Since 2003, gamers have banded together through registered Seattle-based charity, Child's Play. Over a million dollars in donations of toys, games, books and cash for sick kids in children's hospitals across North America and the world have been collected since our inception ... Last year's drive raised over $605,000 for sick children, and we're hoping to smash that record total this winter. Check out the wish lists, read up on the local events and let's show the world what the gaming community is all about!'"

Re:Great idea but WTF?

[Talisein]

As I understand it the hospitals help make these lists. Second, a lot of these kids live at the hospital--their immune system is destroyed from chemotherapy and they are totally isolated; while they probably do have exams and tests and procedures at regular intervals, they undoubtedly have a lot of time to kill.

Re:One small issue --- issue solved

[Mike Fehlauer]

Hi, I help run Child's Play for PA. The hospitals don't want us to send them used items--too many germ issues. We do have a solution: sell your stuff on eBay. We're all set up with eBay's "Missionfish" program, which lets any user selling anything to donate a portion of the proceeds to Child's Play. When listing your item just select that you want to donate. You'll be taken to a popup with a list of charities and a search box. Just search for "Childs Play" and click on the result. Done. The process sounds a little weird, since eBay/Missionfish is set it up in such a way that the charity doesn't get screwed: when the item sells, eBay charges the LISTER'S credit card for the designated percentage. Then the lister collects the full amount from the buyer. So once you're set up, you can list a million items and never have to worry about calculating the % and mailing checks--eBay handles each % donation automatically. Like I said, a little weird but it makes sense. Bottom line is that people have expressed a wish to donate used systems, and this is the easiest and cleanest solution. Thanks for all the support, by the way. You all should be proud of the success of this charity. Being completely fueled by the gamer/geek community, Child's Play just wouldn't exist without you.

Re:This is not charity..

[Mike Fehlauer]

Hi, I help run Child's Play for PA. Granted that the "anonymous coward" OP is retarded, but sadly his affliction isn't rare. That's why we've set up Child's Play as a seperate entity, a charitable nonprofit 501c3 corporation registered in the state of Washington. Aside from email addresses, image copyright notices, and the historical info in the "about" section you won't find any mention of Penny Arcade. The cartoon characters are on there because we want to reassure those familiar with the comic that, yes, this is the "real" Child's Play site. But we don't call them out, or introduce the site as "Gabe and Tycho bring you... Child's Play". Unless you're ALREADY familiar with the characters, they could just be random cartoons of gamers.

I realize the OP is a troll but the fact is, CP is it's own thing. We could all die in a meteor strike tomorrow and CP would continue. Advocating CP on Penny Arcade, or on Slashdot, or on a personal blog, or on any site isn't self-back-patting. It's giving kids a bit of comfort while they're stuck in hospital. No more, no less.