Hello, friend! You are currently reading a collection of words written by a person you will probably never meet, that lives in a place you either do or don’t know about, and you are reading these words on an exclusively online platform. With that, I say congratulations! You have just witnessed one of the many powers of the internet. And if you managed to make it to this part of the internet, you’ve probably made it to Facebook as well and have seen those posts that go something along the lines of “Share this post to see how far around the world it goes!” It’s crazy to think that I could be writing this in the United States or overseas, or maybe in the sea. Who knows, it’s the internet. But our online presence doesn’t stop at sharing cat pictures, nor should it. Since we do have this incredible tool that can unite people with only a few keystrokes and clicks, people have been able to do more to help those in need by setting up charities that can be donated to from anyone with an internet connection.

For instance, in mid-August of this year To Write Love on Her Arms, a non-profit organization that specializes in sharing inspirational stories and finding help for those with suicidal and self-destructive tendencies, had their yearly campaign to raise money for treatment centers and to make therapy more affordable for those who need it. Another online charity is the upcoming event of Extra Life. Extra Life combines the power of the internet with the influences of online celebrities to band together for a twenty-four hour livestream where the participants, with their unique talents and performances, lay out a full day of entertainment and incentives to get their fans to donate and raise money for Children’s Miracle Hospitals. Game Day isn’t just for those with popular names. There are thousands of teams registered for this year and even more individual fundraisers. Money raised during Extra Life can be used to buy machinery that can benefit the hospital and the children in it or can purchase video games, board games, or any other forms of entertainment to help make the children’s lives a bit more uplifting while they’re stuck in the hospital fighting their illnesses.

Game Day this year will be on November 5, but with the way Extra Life is set up, events are not limited to that one day. Events can happen on any other day of the year; Game Day is simply the biggest day where most of the participants do their streams. This is not to say that events not done on Game Day are any less significant. All funds raised go to help improve a sick child’s life. I know for the team that I am registered with, they are letting a community group do their stream on the 5^th and the main group will do theirs on the 12^th of November. If you are interested in participating on Game Day or wish to donate, you can find more information on how to do so and be a hero to the kids who desperately need one at http://www.extra-life.org/. I promise it won’t take very long to change a life for the better and then you can go back to watching your funny cat videos and sharing posts that came from some far away country.