Game clubs set aside sleep for Extra Life video game marathon

Chapel Hill students played games for 24 hours straight in November—not only to have fun, but also to raise money for children’s hospitals.

The gaming marathon, organized by the Tabletop Gaming and Video Game clubs, featured computer games, console games, board games, card games and live-action roleplay.

“I liked the variety of activities that people did—people who were analog tabletop gamers played tabletop games; people who were PC gamers played PC games. There was kind of the whole gambit of opportunities for students to do something that they wanted to do,” Chapel Hill digital design teacher and Video Game Club sponsor Garrison Reid said.

To participate in the marathon, students had to donate money to Extra Life, a program that organizes and promotes gaming marathons as a way to give money to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMNH). CMNH provides funding to children’s hospitals in the United States and Canada.

The clubs hold the event each year. This year, students raised $1,670 for the program.

Reid thinks that the marathon was a good experience for the students involved.

“We know that this is a popu- lation that needs socialization and needs to think about the broader impact,” Reid said. “Meaning that it’s not just them in a room playing games; but, that it tethers to everyone else. There’s a wide world of people and we need to make sure that we’re considering that as we play our games.”

Video Game Club President and junior Jacob Williams enjoyed the event, but plans on making improvements for next year.

“It was fun,” Williams said. “But we want a bit more organization in setting up people’s computers, because, while it was good this year, we did have a lot of computers, so getting them set up in the right areas was annoying.”

Williams also hopes to raise more money next year, as the club shoots for a goal of $2,000.

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