Photo Credit: wlodi

This morning I added another item to my growing “technology happy list:” Now kids can give to a worthy cause by playing online games. I’m always looking for ways to help my kids see how important it is to look beyond themselves, and I love that this ties together kids’ passion for games with doing good. An excerpt from The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society newsletter explains how Pledgeplay came about:

Taylor Carol, of Dana Point, CA, was a typical 11-year-old boy, into sports and video games. But when he got hit by a pitch during a baseball game in March 2006, his world turned upside down. Follow-up testing revealed something more ominous than an injured elbow – leukemia – a particularly lethal form of the disease–one that does not respond to normal treatment.

During the long grueling months that Taylor was in the hospital fighting for his life, his father, software designer Jim Carol, CEO of Game 7 Entertainment Inc., focused his energy on finding a way to help Taylor and other children going through this ordeal. The result was Pledgeplay (pledgeplay.com), an innovative, customizable, online, casual games and fundraising platform.

LLS recently launched Play2Cures, which employs the Pledgeplay platform and allows participants to play casual games online while donating money to help find cures for blood diseases. The site lets players purchase online tokens – $1 per token and a minimum of $10 – to play a variety of  games, with more to come. Each token will help fund blood cancer research, provide critical information and support to patients and their families and help LLS advocate for issues impacting blood cancer patients. Tokens can also be given to friends and family, and participants are encouraged to compete against each other for top scores.

Carol envisions Pledgeplay as a way for families to bond with one another while doing something positive for other families. Carol’s son Taylor played a major role in Pledgeplay’s creation. “For one year Taylor worked hard helping me start this company as our video game expert while he was hospitalized,” says Carol. “It was an awesome distraction and motivator. He was our VP of game evaluation.”

Now, Taylor is back in school. Although there is still uncertainty, he and his family are full of hope and happy that he is recovering.  Meanwhile, Carol devotes himself to raising awareness about childhood cancers.

I think this is such a great story about a family facing a crisis in a positive way together. In addition to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, several other organizations have already teamed up with Pledgeplay (including U.S. Little League). Will online fundraising replace door-to-door efforts in the future? Will I no longer have to walk my kids around the neighborhood hawking wrapping paper or chocolate? Count my family in!