Noble and Charity Nerds partner up!
The gaming and esports industries are no strangers to charitable organizations and the amazing things they do to help people in need. Whether it be a stream marathon to live events, a donation drive for funds and/or products, etc., many organizations look towards gamers as the new spokespeople for getting their message out to the masses. Noble has taken initiative in giving back to these amazing groups of people, and today is when we take another step towards this goal.
It’s Noble’s pleasure to announce we will be working with Charity Nerds on a number of different fund raisers over the next year and beyond! Our very our JagoBlake had time to sit down and speak with the CEO of Charity Nerds.
JagoBlake: How exactly did Charity Nerds come to be?
CharityNerds: In the summer of 2016, I was about to start high school and my parents challenged me to come up with a project that helped the community. My initial idea was to host a gaming tournament at my house and to give the money to an existing charity. My dad liked the idea and together we worked to grow it into a full fledged non-profit organization. While brainstorming, my own experience as a child helped me determine the direction the organization would ultimately go. When I was six, I was hospitalized for several days. My parents gave me my first video game, a Nintendo DS. The game really helped me take my mind off of my fears of being in the hospital. I decided that the charity mission would be to provide video games to kids in similar circumstances that could not afford the games. The name was my idea. Pretty simple, it is a charity and I’m a nerd.
JagoBlake: Definitely an awesome cause! Second question: other than your father, who all helps you with managing the organization?
CharityNerds: We have a Board of Directors that meets quarterly. The Board is made up of myself, my dad, the Director of the local Ronald McDonald House and a local attorney. Day to day operations are basically done by my dad and me and volunteers from local schools.
JagoBlake: Third question…or perhaps I should say third and fourth questions: can you name examples of games for which you’ve hosted tournaments? And how would you describe the experience from each and every event that’s come up?
CharityNerds: Actually we have not hosted tournaments yet. We have done a lot of other fundraising efforts since we started. One of the largest was hosting the Retro Video Game Arcade at the 2017 Orlando Megacon. We provided 45 retro consoles for guests to play games from the Atari 2600 all the way up to the Nintendo Wi. We also held an auction at the convention which raised over $3,000 for the charity. It was an amazing event. I enjoyed playing the retro games and meeting thousands of people. Other fundraisers we’ve done include “Nerd Nights” at various restaurants, Painting With a Twist parties, and car washes.
One thing that makes us somewhat unique is that we accept donations of used video games. We repair, clean and test the games and provide to as many kids as possible.
I should also mention that our mission has expanded from the original one I mentioned. We now also help kids of active duty military, mental health advocacy, and at-risk youth.
JagoBlake: That sounds amazing. Seriously, it does. You guys go above and beyond with what you do.
You mentioned accepting donations of used video games. Do you do likewise for consoles?
CharityNerds: Absolutely. Consoles, games, handhelds, accessories – anything. We’ve received everything from GameBoys to PS3s. And thanks for the compliment!
JagoBlake: We’re all excited to see Noble and CharityNerds join forces! Would you like to touch upon what exactly prompted both groups to arrange a partnership?
CharityNerds: We are excited as well! We wanted to find an organization with a similar family culture. Our goal is to develop a long term relationship that helps both orgs grow their brands and provide new methods of fundraising to the ones we have been doing.
JagoBlake: Do you currently have plans outlined for future events that you are able to elaborate on?
CharityNerds: Yes. We have a couple of upcoming events. We will be hosting another Retro Video Game Room at the Tampa Bay Mega Con this September 29-October 1. Also, we will be partnering with First Strike Paintball for a local event this Halloween. We’ll be looking for volunteers to play the roles of zombies on a zombie safari paintball tour. On October 7, we have a twenty-four hour charity stream event. Finally, we have an Overwatch event in LA in late October. (Exact date tbd)
JagoBlake: Of all the consoles that exist, do you have a favorite?
CharityNerds: If you take into account all of the factors that make a great console, (games, controller, console design, is it revolutionary?) I would say that the SNES is probably my favorite system.
JagoBlake: To anybody wishing to become a volunteer or sponsor for the organization after reading this interview, what steps can they take to do so?
CharityNerds: For that they can go to our website, http://www.charitynerds.org/donate or http://www.charitynerds.org/volunteer.
JagoBlake: Thanks for taking the time to speak with me about the organization! In closing, anybody you’d like to give shout-outs to?
CharityNerds: I’d love to give a shoutout to @kwadvising for helping us out at Dreamhack, as well as to Noble Recon.
Thanks to CharityNerds for their input! Should you, the reader, wish to support their efforts alongside us, you can do as suggested and go to the donation or volunteer pages at their official website. Follow their and website for the latest news on CharityNerds as well.
As always, we thank everybody who supports our organization! Keep up with to know when our streamers go live with more charity sessions!