Guest Post: 36 hours of gaming for a good cause

By Benjamin Proulx, Sherwood Park News

"Archbishop Jordan Catholic High School's (ABJ) 36-hour "game-a-thon" for the fight against Cerebral Palsy (CP) over the weekend has already raised $2,500 dollars more than its original goal.

"The game-a-thon, run by the high school's Gaming Club, as well as the club's co-founder and ABJ teacher Mike Joly, was hoping to raise $5,000 for the Cerebral Palsy Association of Alberta (CPAA). However, after 36-hours of playing video games and forcing themselves to try and keep their eyes open, students had raised $7,500.

"For many, though, the amount of money raised wasn't the most important factor.

"Kevin Davey, who drove in from Calgary for the event with his 17-year-old son, Josh, [who has cerebral palsy], said that Joly is a visionary, and that it was about more than just the money.

"When Josh first went into that gym, and saw all the screens lit up, he was like a kid on Christmas morning," Davey said. "The kids are just great. He walks in here and within a few minutes, they're chatting with him as if they've known him for years: they kind of look past the wheelchair."

"Josh was understandably taken aback by the amount of work put into the project by students, who had come up with the idea after playing XBox 360 with Joly's cousin, Marc, who also [has CP].

"They put together a gym with eight projection screens, and nearly twice as many video game consoles, most of which were brought by students, and many were attached to TVs also provided by students.

"The gym was littered with different "gaming chairs" that the participants had brought from home in order to be comfortable, and some even went as far as putting together make-shift beds. It was more than obvious, still, that they did their best to stay awake for the full 36 hours, as energy drinks, pop and coffee cups were scattered around the gym.

"The students, who came up with the idea for the fundraiser using Marc Joly as an inspiration, were commended by the event volunteers. Mike Joly, who gladly joined in on all of the gaming, said that it really was about more than just a fundraiser.

"One of the things is that a lot of my students feel like outsiders," Joly said. "That's why they wanted to do this specific charity. They know that a lot of students with disabilities feel that too."

"Davis Clifford, one of the main students who took initiative on the project said that video-gaming has a bad reputation, but that it brings people together and that everybody is able to do it. CPAA representative Joanne Dorn agrees, and hopes that other schools will take ABJ's tiring fundraiser as an example, and come up with their own clubs and events to include those with disabilities.

"It proves that gaming, regardless of the ability level, is something in which everybody can participate, everybody can play, everybody can have fun," Dorn said. "You can go into this gymnasium right now and you wouldn't know who has a disability and who doesn't."