Gamer's Giving Backs' Pink Day in LA
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
By: Rhonda Head

This is the story of how 1 video gamer decided to make change.....1 gamer at a time :)

Below is the same story that I shared with the Canadian Cancer Society on how Pink Day in La and Gamers Giving Back came to be....I dedicate this to all of the people who have lost anyone to Cancer, my volunteers and in memory of all the family I have lost to Cancer. Thank you once again to everyone who supports my goals of Video Gamers making a different in the world!

I was working for an on-line Radio Company and became quite unhappy with the direction they were heading in as a whole. Our initial concept was to provide support and fun for an on-line gaming community (Arenanet's Guild Wars)...however I was just not feeling their hearts were fully in it anymore. So...after quitting, many people approached me about starting up my own radio station...I declined, being a teacher..I was FAR too busy to run my own radio station..or so I thought.
Around this time, the earthquake and destruction had passed through Haiti and I was driving home, listening to it all on the radio....and the song, "What About Now" by Daughtry came on....and then the ideas came swarming to my head...What if..I create a radio station for entertainment, but have a charity aspect where Video Gamers come together for a greater cause. Many on-line video gamers pay monthly fees, what if we all set aside some of that money for a good cause. :)
Within 2 weeks, we had our first fundraiser and I was so excited to see how many people were on board to raise money for Haiti! Now, my mom has MS, so my next thoughts were to coordinate with the MS Society and combine my past in-game event of having a Toga party with that. Again, tons of support and it was growing. People were now sitting up and listening and not thinking I was absolutely crazy.
Over that time, my good friend Connor, the original creator of the concept of Pink Day in La and I were discussing taking it one step further and making a huge fundraiser out of it. In the past he never had very much support and well I had more connections and decided...let's do this! On my own personal side...I have had so many people pass away from Cancer in my life...and I had a scare when I was 19 as well.
I got the ball rolling by first contacting the Canadian Cancer Society to see if we could setup a donation site, I contacted the Video Game of choice's Community Managers and the rest went rolling. Everyone was soooo supportive! From here I went to Seattle, Washington to attend the Penny Arcade Expo and handed out stickers and pencils and described the event to people.
By the time I got home...it was overwhelming how many people wanted to support us...but either donating prizes or saying "Hey! I want to volunteer for that!" (You should see the list of volunteers we already have for next year! WOOT!) It was at this point that Arenanet told me they were going to do something special for the game! YES! I had made several propositions, but I was not sure if they would go along with it.
We had several meetings using a Voice Chat server and deciding times suitable for all time zones to meet. People have to understand...the volunteers were from all over the world! ( Simply Amazing) However, it became a bit more personal a month before the event. One of our key volunteers, who's sister has 4th stage Breast Cancer....was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. Her name is Jeannie, but goes by Sadie in the gaming world :) At this point, we wanted to do this for her. She is so strong! She is going through Chemo right now and still showed up to help! What an inspiration!
All things said and done..it was a week before the event, which is held in the virtual World of Guild Wars and on-air at gw-en.com...where we created Trivia based on World News and Cancer Myths and Facts. We had our prizes ready, our trivia sorted and the best thing in the world happened! Arenanet came through and made Pink Dye..so everyone could be Pink without having to mix other colours! From this point, people who were not even aware of the event started to go crazy and...WOW the donations flew in. It was quite the frenzy. We went from $1700 in donations to $5000 in a mere 6 hours.
The basics of the event were, we asked trivia on-air and in districts. There were over 37 districts (100 people per district) specifically there to support the event! That is WOW! People would go into the area and be like..WHAT IS GOING ON? To only end up joining us! To quote 1 of the staff of Arenanet, "You know, I showed up at the beginning because I had to; I stayed till the end because I wanted to!" On-air we also remembered those who were lost to Breast Cancer and people shared their stories in-game as well.
We designed a few Pink Ribbons and Hearts that I posted on the Canadian Cancer Society Facebook page as well. If you want more pictures just let me know! We have TONS!
After all the dust settled from the day...we walked away knowing we had created a new meaning for on-line gaming. We did something good for people all over the world and the event truly was a success. We could of raised millions that day....but as I told my staff....it’s the awareness and the support that is worth the millions. :)
I think in the end it benefited two areas....Breast Cancer Research and Global Awareness of what Video Gamers can do. I told everyone they should be proud and we hope to hold Pink Day in La next year and smash our goal even more!
I am glad that back in the summer, the Canadian Cancer Society listened to my crazy idea. I guess all good things can come from even the craziest of ideas!
Much love to everyone and to those fighting Cancer right now...Keep strong...you have warriors out there battling for you! You heal us all with your brave hearts :)

Rhonda Head and the Gamers Giving Back Team