- Video shows CSUB students come together and raise money for kids at Memorial Hospital.
- In one day, the event raised $6,000, the overall goal is to make or surpass their previous years count of $10,000.
CSUB’S Student Union was taken over by the Extra Life charity event over the weekend. Raising almost six thousand dollars on Saturday November 4th for kids at the Laurens Small Children Center, organizers say they’re confident that they’ll reach their goal of $10 thousand dollars in no time.
According to Campus Gamers President Samantha Medina Alvarez, they had over 200 participants come in on Saturday, ranging from all ages. Alvarez says although she was ecstatic to see that many people show up, she says she didn’t expect anything less from her community.
“I think knowing that we are supporting the community and helping and benefiting a children’s hospital is what brought the community together,” said Alvarez. “Regardless of the fun activities that we have here, I think all the clubs, all the people that came mainly came for the children because you know we all have that sweet spot for helping people.”
But the Extra Life event didn’t just feature video games, bouncy houses were also available for younger kids, along with face painting, an anime cafe, even a reptile station where attendees have the chance to hold a snake.
Associate Professor Dr. Amy Gancarz-Kausch volunteered her time for the event by being in the dunk tank. With this being her first time being involved in the event, Professor Gancarz-Kausch says she decided to join to not only support the cause but to create more unity.
“As a professor one of the most rewarding aspects of my job is student success and so part of that is supporting them in these types of events where they’re serving the community and it slaps unities the community where professor, students, staff, are all coming together for a good cause,” said Professor Gancarz-Kauch.
Alvarez says seeing 13 clubs come out to participate has felt like a dream come true but is especially grateful for CSUB’s E-sports club. Being the second club to put the most money into the creation of the event and also coordinating their gaming tournaments.
President of the CSUB’s E-sports Steven Tran says there club alone donated around 25-hundred dollars mainly going toward the physical attractions of the event.
“We believe that having also a physical aspect along with the video game aspect is important to have engagement and kind of invite people down to the event,” said Tran.
Vice President of CSUB’s E-sports Daniel Rivera says he is especially hopeful that they will raise their goal amount since he believes video games can open a new and creative world for people — inviting a bigger presence.
“You know unlike traditional sports, I think some people can’t always get involved with activities like that so with video games it gives people a way to connect and feel like they’re part of something,” said Rivera.
Alvarez says she is extremely grateful to see the jump in attendees from last year compared to this year and is truly blessed to see the growth in community support for this event.
“There’s a lot more support and overall I think that’s what people feel that more people want this event to succeed, more people want for us to gain more money for this hospital so seeing that difference from last year to this year is amazing,” said Alvarez.
For players interested in a rematch, Extra Life will be back next year this time ran CSUB Road Runner E-sports. bringing back the bouncy house, the dunk tank, and the obstacles courses. However anyone wanting to make a suggestion can email Steven Tran at stran15@csub.edu.
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