Tis The Season...

...to be charitable.

Christmas is right around the corner, only a few weeks away! Time really flies. So, if you're wondering what to get me for Christmas, look no further! I'll tell you.

Child's Play.

That's all. Seriously! That's it.

Child's Play is a charity started by the guys from Penny Arcade. Not content with the bad rap that gamers tend to get, they set out to prove that not all gamers are bad. To that end, they have created a charity that has been growing every year. Money donated to Child's Play is used to purchase games, toys, movies, and more for sick children located at hospitals in the US, Canada, and Europe. Christmas for these kids can be a bit light given the cost of medical care and the strain on their families.

Here, Gabe from Penny Arcade can explain it better:

If you are like me, every time you see an article like this one, where the author claims that video games are training our nations youth to kill you get angry. The media seems intent on perpetuating the myth that gamers are ticking time bombs just waiting to go off. I know for a fact that gamers are good people. I have had the opportunity on multiple occasions to meet hundreds of you at conventions all over the country. We are just regular people who happen to love video games. With that in mind we have put together a little something we like to call “Child’s Play”. Penny Arcade is working with the Seattle Children’s Hospital and Amazon.com to make this Christmas really special for a lot of very sick kids. With the help of the Children’s Hospital we have created an Amazon Wish List for the kids. It’s full of video games, movies and toys. Some of these kids are in pretty bad shape and just having a Game Boy would really raise their spirits.

Please take some time to browse the Wish List. Maybe all you can afford is a package of batteries or maybe you want to go in with your entire office and get the kids a GameCube. Every single contribution will help out the Children’s Hospital and the 190,000 kids they treat each year.

All the toys and games will be delivered to us and we will in turn deliver them to the Children’s Hospital. As soon as the toys start arriving I’ll set up a web site and post as many pictures as I can. We will be making a trip over to one of the hospitals next week and we’ll bring you back stories from some of the kids along with more pictures.

Penny Arcade has a readership of something like 4.5 million gamers across the world. We are arguably the largest community of gamers on the internet. The important word there being community. This isn’t IGN, this isn’t Gamespy, we are not a faceless corporation, you are not just a number tracked by a database and then relayed to hungry advertisers. You guys have proven yourselves to be a powerful force when stirred into action. Here is your opportunity to use that power to do some real good.

Let’s give these kids the Christmas that they deserve and let’s give the news papers a different kind of story to write about gamers.
-Gabe out

That post originally appeared back in 2003 and more information about the start of Child's Play can be found on their About page.

So that's it. That's all I want. Show these kids that even in the darkest of times, there is a ray of hope. Give them the gift of fun and distraction. You'll be happy you did.