In the interview, Taylor and Jim talked in-depth about the beginnings of GameChanger and why we were created. Taylor Carol also tells the story of his own battle with a rare form of blood Cancer and how the games he played during that time were critical for bringing comfort and joy. With a focus on bringing the latest tech to the hands of our users, GameChanger was founded with the purpose to build a community for hospitals and patients and to provide the comfort that they are not alone. Our priority is set on spreading joy to hospitalized, sick children through comfort therapy with new games and technology.

Watch the interview linked below:

Tech Avengers changing the game for sick kids

The post GameChangers: Tech Avengers Featured in Good Day LA first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

We joyously accept video games, gear, collectible items and marketing materials. During the pandemic, times have been horrible for any child with a life-threatening illness with the additional threat of covid. Services have been cut, staff decimated, and children have had to suffer with the inability of people being able to visit or deliver gifts and goodies.

We’ve also witnessed many of our game and tech partners have not been able to go into their offices since the pandemic began. If your company has any excess marketing materials or items collecting dust, please consider donating during the road trip or any day during the year.

This trip is to bring awareness to the suffering that has occurred for sick children as well as make it easy for our partner to donate items that may be sitting idly in cabinets, on desks or in warehouses. We also have developed systems to protect the earth in case donated items cannot be recycled or repurposed to help kids. We follow all e-steward and basel compliance guidelines.We also understand that many facilities do not have their managers back on premise at this point in time. This road trip for good is to help all in our industry and our community be aware of how we can turn what might be your trash into treasures for others.

Stay tuned and follow our Socials linked below to keep up-to-date with the progress of the #RoadTrip4Good and all of our other amazing events coming up!

Twitter

Instagram

Donate

The post GameChanger #RoadTrip4Good Kicks Off in November first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

Dana Point, Calif., October 5, 2021 — Malik Ducard, VP of Content Partnerships at YouTube, has joined Steve Huffman, CEO of Reddit, as the newest members of a powerhouse board of “Tech Avengers” at GameChanger Charity (GCC), the non-profit providing streaming technology and premium content to hospitalized children battling cancer and other illnesses.

Ducard, whose career includes stints at Paramount, Lionsgate, Showtime and MGM Home Entertainment, joined the GameChanger “conspiracy of good” in August, following Huffman who joined earlier this year. Other members of the board include Dave Levy, VP of Healthcare at Amazon Web Services, Emmett Shear, founder and CEO of Twitch and Tim Stuart, CFO of Microsoft Xbox. The full board of directors, composed of national leaders in healthcare, tech and innovation, can be found here.

Founded by Jim Carol, a pioneer in streaming video technology, GameChanger was formed in 2007 when Carol’s son Taylor, then 11 years old, was diagnosed with leukemia. As Taylor found comfort and connection in video games during treatment, Jim made it his mission to provide other hospitalized kids with access to games, movies and streaming content that provided relief from their pain and isolation, which has worsened significantly under Covid.

With help from tech giants including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitch, YouTube and others, the GameChanger Private Network has emerged as a global leader in distraction therapy and pain mitigation for seriously ill children. The cloud-based platform provides pediatric hospitals with ad-free premium content, video games, livestreams, educational tools and virtual reality experiences with the goal of reducing anxiety and isolation and promoting healing through a sense of normalcy.

“Like the other members of our incredible board, Malik and Steve are truly passionate about GameChanger’s mission of leveraging technology and innovation to ease the pain and suffering of sick children, their families and caregivers,” said Jim Carol. “The resurgence of Covid-19 and other variants have elevated the risk and isolation for immunocompromised patients even further, which makes the caregiver’s job that much harder, and makes our work that much more important.”

Through donated advertising, Subreddit content and other initiatives, Huffman is leveraging Reddit’s global reach to help GameChanger expand community relationships, raise awareness and encourage interaction. “Reddit users are very aware of the power our platform gives them to create a movement and have a real impact on issues they care about,” said Huffman. “We’re excited about our ability to help make a positive difference for kids who need all the love and support we can give them.”

Ducard, who is excited to bring his passion for equity and social impact to GameChanger, said, “I look forward to working with Jim and the extraordinary group he has assembled to fulfill the GameChanger mission.”

About GameChanger Charity

Based in Dana Point, Calif., GameChanger Charity is a national nonprofit organization founded in 2007 by Jim Carol and his son Taylor, inspired by Taylor’s battle with pediatric cancer. GameChanger’s mission is to bring happiness, hope and connection to hospitalized children all over the world primarily through the GameChanger Private Network, an interactive platform that gives patients, families and caregivers relief by providing free access to the latest video games, movies, virtual reality and other forms of distraction therapy. The charity has grown to help 25,000 children and 6,500 caregivers with more than $25 million in donations. Get involved at gamechdev.wpenginepowered.com/ and on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Media Contacts:

George Medici
PondelWilkinson
gmedici@pondel.com
310.279.5968

Charles Upchurch
French | West | Vaughan
cupchurch@​fwv-​us.com
919.395.1588

The post YouTube VP Malik Ducard and Reddit CEO Steve Huffman Join Board of Directors first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

It’s been said that life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.

In the early 2000s, Jim Carol’s plan was to become a global pioneer in streaming video technology for smartphones.

He succeeded. Carol’s company, PacketVideo, was the first to enable delivery of rich multimedia software on mobile phones and it now runs on more than 1 billion cellphones.

This brought him wealth and prestige.

But when his 11-year-old son, Taylor, was diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia in 2006 and forced into hospital isolation, Carol pivoted…..

Please read on here.

The post Nonprofit GameChanger Going All Out to Help Kids with Cancer, Other Serious Illnesses first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

The GameChanger Private Network is a software unique to GameChanger that provides direct comfort, security, and relief to sick children and their families through a world of digital content. In their time of pain and suffering through their child’s debilitating illness, the GameChanger Platform was been created to alleviate the day-to-day struggles that the Carols became familiar with. With an emphasis on bringing Joy directly to patients and easing the experience in their day-to-day, the platform includes multitudes of videos, games, tools, streams, and more that allow for hours of entertainment, growth, and comfort. GameChanger provides a safe place for both patients and their families by allowed for an individualized tech experience. Users of the platform are able to have the utmost privacy, while ensuring direct connection to important information and content that they use in their day-to-day.

Check out the OCBJ’s interview with our founders Jim and Taylor Carol.
https://www.ocbj.com/news/2021/sep/06/gamechanger-helps-kids-during-treatment/

The post GameChanger Founders, GC Private Network featured in OCBJ Insider first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

Steve Huffman is the current CEO and one of the co-founders of the social platform Reddit, a platform GameChanger has become very familiar with in our journey. Steve has been involved in a number of game changing projects in his career, and we are so excited to have his professional expertise going forward. His background in the technological world and knowledge have allowed for Reddit to become a modern hub of information and interaction, and his dedication is something that has been extremely evident in our partnership.

The conversations with Steve have been nothing but insightful and beneficial for our dreams at GameChanger, and we are so excited for the innovative changes we’re making from these discussions. In our ongoing discussions and planning, Steve and his team have been only enthusiastic about helping us in our cause, and the support from them has been invaluable for us going forward. Steve and his team have allowed us to dig our roots deeper into the communities we want to reach out to, and going forward we have a lot of opportunity for bringing great things to the GCN Platform. We are so honored to be in partnership with an innovator and a team full of support for the GameChanger cause.

Malik Ducard is the current VP of Content Partnerships at YouTube, overseeing business development efforts for the platform’s Learning, Social Impact, Family, Film & TV partnership areas. Prior to joining YouTube, he served as senior vice president of digital distribution for the Americas at Paramount Pictures and oversaw distribution of content to digital platforms. He works closely with top names in the Youtube industry, and his knowledge of partnership and content facilitation has proven invaluable for us as we continually expand and improve our platform. Our spirited conversations with Malik have been truly eye-opening in what needs to be added to our Game Changer Private Network platform, and we are continually adapting and adding content or creators that we think fit the GameChanger vibe. 

Both of these gamechangers have been in direct involvement with us and our CEO Jim as we continue in our goals of providing joy to as many sick, isolated children as possible. We are so happy to be able to announce two new members to our board that are so passionately involved in innovating our goals of philanthropy and plans for spreading even more joy.

Our board of directors has been tackling the difficult problem of addressing desolate situations in hospitals, as hospital numbers continually grow from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goals going forward are to continually improve our platform and spread Joys in new ways never thought of, and we couldn’t be more confident with the newest additions to the GameChanger Board of Directors.

“How do we make life better for sick children and caregivers during this pandemic? I was honored to spend last Friday brainstorming with Reddit Founder & CEO Steve Huffman, and Malik Ducard, Head of Social Impact/VP of Content Partnerships at YouTube. Mailk agreed to join Steve and other tech icons as the newest member of the GameChanger board of directors, truly a coalition of high-tech superheroes. Together we can and will make a difference.” – Jim, CEO and Founder of GameChanger

The post GameChanger Charity Welcomes Steve Huffman and Malik Ducard to Board of Directors first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

Character-Based Catch-ups are a new blog series featuring the inspiring beneficiaries of GameChanger Charity’s Character-Based Scholarship program.

Every day, we’re touched by the kind of impact supporters like you have made possible.

We’re glad to bring you another check-in from a previous Character-Based Scholarship recipient Savanah:

“Dear GameChanger Charity,

No words can express the gratitude I feel for the grant you awarded me. Thank you so much! With the money you gave me, I will be able to afford living [here] over this next semester.

If everything goes according to plan, I hope to earn my degree and work for a nonprofit so I can help others like you have helped me.

Once again, thank you! Please let me know if I can help in any way.

Sincerely,

Savanah B.”

The post Character-based Catch-ups: Savanah B. first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

Character-Based Catch-ups are a new blog series featuring the inspiring beneficiaries of GameChanger Charity’s Character-Based Scholarship program.

“Hello all! My name is Kamron, and I was the recipient of a $5,000 GameChanger scholarship in 2015.

In December of 2014, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphona. I received a life-saving bone marrow transplant in February of 2016 and have been in remission ever since. In fact, in the summer of 2017, I had the amazing opportunity to meet my donor, Rahul, and his fianceé, Jessica. In addition, I visited them for a weekend at their apartment in Tempe, AZ during the end of November that year. Lastly, my family and I were invited to their wedding this August. It was a phenomenal experience.

I am currently a junior studying Business Administration with a minor in Psychology at [my] University. However, I am not physically on campus this semester. I am grateful because I am actually studying in Rome, Italy at the moment. Rome was one of the four destinations of my Make A Wish trip during summer of 2017 — and I knew I had to come back. It has been 2 months since I have been here, and it has been a life-changing experience so far. I am not looking forward to returning to the states in December.

GameChanger’s considerate scholarship made my dream of studying in Rome more possible. It is an organization I respect incredibly. I remember the joy on little patients’ faces when I once went around with them passing out gifts at [my hospital]. I am forever thankful for all the opportunities that have come my way because of them.

Kamron S.”

The post Character-Based Catch-ups: Kamron S. first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

GameChanger and Friends 2018 is the first annual, month-long community fundraiser hosted by GameChanger Charity, featuring guest livestreamers and giveaways.

The Goal

Raise $75,000 during the month of August, leading up to one Grand Finale, multi-partner day of streaming on the 29th. This will allow us to fund at least 5 GameChanger scholarships and give 5,000+ copies of the game I, Hope to kids / teens in hospitals around the world.

Showcase Games

Developed by Kenny Roy, I, Hope is a beautiful coming of age adventure story about a young girl named Hope, whose town has been taken over by Cancer. The game is engaging for all, yet for survivors and children who are currently battling cancer, the game is empowering. This title is also the first independently developed gamed that was donated entirely to Gamechanger Charity’s nonprofit causes.

Developed by Laura Shigihara, Rakuen has received 1,067 positive reviews and carries a Metacritic score of 84.  In this game, a hospitalized boy comes to terms with his own story by traveling with his mother to a beautiful fantasy world; ultimately helping his fellow patients find closure by walking a mile in their shoes.

Prize Giveaways

By donating via the official event Tiltify page, supporters can choose to enter different giveaways based on the chosen level of contribution:

• • $10.00 – get a copy of Rakuen & I, Hope on PC and we will give an addition copy of I, Hope to a kid in a hospital.
    
  • $15.00 – get entered to win a Minecraft Fun Pack ($200 value) – physical prize
    • LEGO Minecraft #21117 “The Elder Dragon”
    • Minecraft foam pickaxe
    • Minecraft 5″ vinyl “Mining Steve”
    • 3- Minecraft mini mystery box
      
  • $50.00 – Enter to win an Autographed Minecraft collector’s pack by the Minecraft team – physical prize
    • Xbox One
    • Minecraft Poster
    • Minecraft Adventure kits with Iron Sword
    • Funko collectible toy
    • “Minecraft: The Crash” book signed by the author
  • $100.00 –GameChanger Founders Pack + 1 month (25 to 28 games) of Chrono.gg games (limited to 10 winners) + lower tier items
    

The post Gamechanger and Friends 2018 first appeared on GameChanger Charity.

Along with our team, volunteers from EA and Twitch were in attendance to play games with the kids and hand out fun gifts to hospital patients and their siblings.

When bringing therapeutic gaming and VR to children in hospitals, there’s always a source of inspiration to behold. It comes from witnessing the resilience of children patients who have a sense of wonder that only a young person can have and from the caring Child Life staff we meet.

In a similar way, inspiration fills the room when you experience volunteers coming to one of our Play Days. Generally speaking, these are people who like to take a moment out of their busy schedules to bring a bit of cheer to children staying in hospitals.

Volunteering was a core element of our recent GameChanger Play Day.

GameChanger Charity was thrilled to be invited to EA’s 11^th Annual Nonprofit showcase. Located at EA’s headquarters in Redwood City, California, the day featured various charities that expressed interest in working with volunteers from the EA team.

The offer we established for employees was to join us for a Play Day at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital where they would spend time playing games with children staying at the hospital in order to bring a bit of fun to their day.

The more we talked with folks at EA the more we could see that the people who came by to discuss GameChanger’s mission were enthusiastic about putting energy toward a cause.

Fast-forward a couple weeks later to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco. Not only did we have four amazing team members from EA join us, we also had a crew from Twitch Charity in attendance along with talented music streamer Tammy Byerly.

We had two rooms available for use. One of them, a digital AV lab that UCSF Benioff created to be used exclusively by their patients, featured a green screen along with just about any resource one would need to create a TV show and let their imagination run wild.

We set up 2 VR devices. One, an HTC Vive, which had various games like Fruit Ninjas and Tilt Brush. The other, a PSVR with VR Worlds that featured a virtual luge game. David Arditti and Nate Aschenbach, our resident VR Specialists and all-around good guys, managed the gaming and helped guide the kids through new experiences in the virtual reality space.

The next room over was a teen lounge where multiple consoles were set-up with a variety of games including Guitar Hero, Star Wars Battlefront, FIFA 2018, Super Smash Bros on Wii-U, and an Oculus VR headset featuring Medium, an art game where you draw in a 3D space!

We also had games spilling out into the hallways including Marvel’s Lego Avengers and Angry Birds Star Wars, which is also where our table of gifts was located where patients, brothers and sisters were able to choose from an assortment of fun gifts.

Toys we brought along were supplied by our awesome partners at Hasbro and included Mr. Potato Head, Nerf Basketball sets, Upwords Board Games, Baby Alive dolls and Marvel Iron Man Action Figures. SkyLanders were available as well, which Activision has so graciously donated.

It seemed that as soon as we set up a group of kids came to play! With excited smiles, the patients and siblings adventured through VR landscapes and enjoyed playing the various games with our volunteers.

A highlight to note, Tammy Byerly played her guitar for one of the patients who was delighted to experience such a unique talent singing right in front of them. As a special bonus, EA donated some of their top new games to the hospital so patients could have access to some of the newest and best video games out today.

A big thanks goes to the volunteers from EA and Twitch that joined us for GameChanger Play Day! Of course, we can’t thank UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital enough for having us. Stay tuned for more from GameChanger Charity and our partnerships with awesome companies like these by following us on our Twitter!

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