Child's Play

More or less every year, I try to put a link up to Child's Play when the site opens for donations again. Gabe and Tycho at Penny Arcade created Child's Play in 2003, and since then the gaming community has given over two million dollars to Children's Hospitals around the country. It's a good feeling, passing on a favorite past-time and improving the quality of life for children at these facilities. The wish lists have more than just video games, too. I've seen plenty of books and board games on them over the years.

In Gabe's recent news post, he quoted a letter from Connecticut hospital staff member saying that their facility has found that the Nintendo Wii and some games in Wii Fit can be used by spinal cord injured patients to improve their core balance. I found this particularly interesting.

M and I are going to pick out something to donate to our local Children's Hospital. It's a tough financial time, but we're lucky enough to have some excess. He's been part of the oft-vilified gaming industry for many years, and we both qualify as Gamers these days.