What is Child’s Play?

Child’s Play is a charitable organization that donates toys and games to children in hospital networks around the globe. It was founded in 2003 by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. You may recognize these names from the popular webcomic Penny Arcade, which focuses around video games.

As of the time of this writing, Child’s Play has raised over $55 million to allow more children to harness the power of play. This fantastic organization gives you many different channels for supporting the cause. The website includes one-time donations, recurring donations, an Amazon wishlist, and merchandise for purchase. 

The Child’s Play website includes an interactive map so you can target specific locations with your donation. Their hospital map includes children’s hospitals, clinics, and domestic violence shelters.

Additionally, the team at Child’s Play has organized a Therapeutic Game Guide. This free resource provides game recommendations for staff and parents based on factors such as pain and mood.

What you can do to help Child’s Play

As mentioned above, anyone can help support the Child’s Play mission. Monetary donations are always welcome and the team welcomes any potential volunteers, especially near their Redmond, WA headquarters.

It’s important to note that hospitals can’t accept any used games or consoles due to infection control precautions. If you have a gaming item that you’d like to give away, eBay for Charities lets sellers give away a portion, or all, of the sale revenue to a charity. 

If you want to go all-in, they’re also hiring a Director of Philanthropy and Partner Experiences. This seems like a great opportunity to continue fundraising, flex your project management muscles, and manage the gift acknowledgement process!

The charity also hosts an annual dinner auction to raise additional funds. This is a fun way to celebrate fandom and contribute to a cause that impacts hundreds of thousands of children’s’ lives.

What are people saying about Child’s Play?

With a focus on gaming, it’s no surprise that they have glowing testimonials from happy community members. You can read more testimonials here, and these are some of my favorite quotes from the community:

• “It was frightening and painful, and nobody wanted to explain anything to a 5-year old. The thing that changed me forever, though, wasn’t the surgery, it was the game cart.”
• “As you know, this is the first year we have registered with Child’s Play and we were really overwhelmed by the kindness of gamers from all over the world.”
• “What an unexpected and welcome surprise! The Apple products will help us support children through stressful procedures and provide recreation during long waits.”

This is the type of impact gaming can have on the world, and I’m thankful that Child’s Play continues to orchestrate such magical experiences!

What we’re doing to help

We’ve been donating 5% of the revenue from our TAG shop to Child’s Play for the last 2 years, and continue to do so! If you ever have merchandise requests for customization or new products, please feel free to reach out to our team. We’re happy to accommodate as best as we can.

We also want to do more features, like this one, to show the great work that organizations like Child’s Play are doing. The gaming community can be a powerful force and their mission really resonates with how we think about the power of gaming.

Lastly, we see an opportunity to raise more funds through game nights with the Average Gamer community. Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on these events!

Do you have any additional questions about Child’s Play? Is there a specific way you’d like to support this organization? Join the conversation in the comments section!

By Fred

Fred has been gaming since his dad brought home a recycled PC from work and installed Hugo's House of Horrors as a toddler. He continues to play games almost daily across PC, console and mobile and may have a slightly addictive personality.