Awesome Games Done Quick Raises Over $1.2 Million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation

Amazing ^^. I really hope all the money will help to make a good difference to cancer patients .

And really fun to watch the games as well .

It was an awesome event once again. Donated some money too by buying the Donkey Kong shirt (you can never have too many The Yetee shirts) and $10 in addition to that. Wasn't enough to save the animals.

A small amount of that $1.2m was from me! GDQ's keep getting better and there are some very entertaining and informative performances.

I highly recommend anyone interested goes to YouTube and look up:

Mike Tyson's Punch Out Blinfolded Race
Super Mario Bros. Race
Battletoads run with TheMexicanRunner
Kaizo Mario Bros 3
Super Mario Maker Race

Lots of other great runs as well...

What a waste of money, they're like pink ribbon. They don't really DO anything, mostly just print pamphlets telling you to eat better and waste money at the doctors getting cancer inducing examinations. A whopping $1.2 million from a single donor and they can proudly say that they fund a measly 450 scientists.

But hey, you get that warm fuzzy feeling thinking you threw away money to do something good without leaving the comfort of your seat! Remember kids, non-profit doesn't mean someone isn't getting rich. The ceo is allowed to have a ceo salary, and bonuses to unscrupulous employees are allowed!

I know someone who worked at a goodwill life academy for the mentally disabled. They get a tax deductible donation from goodwill, and the principal gets a bonus based on how much they raise back under the table. They had a potluck, where all the parents brought food. The school kept the leftovers and sold it to the kids for lunch the next day.

Charity organizations are full of bull! You wanna help people, go out and actually do something for someone! Go fund an actual scientist who will study cures for cancer, not study how to prevent it! We know how to prevent cancer! Live like they do in the less developed world where people have been living to a healthy age of 90+ cancer free!

@Kimite
I'm sorry, they specifically deal with prevention and detection, they don't actually help people who know they have cancer, asode from maybe not getting more cancer, or not knowing they have more cancer.

That's awesome! I never get to see these live, or donate to them, but I always come across them in my YouTube feed.

http://preventcancer.org/about-us/aboutus-history/

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=5435#.VpPEj-C3M0M

https://www.go-ahp.nonprofitmailers.charitywatch.org/salaries/prevent-cancer-foundation/146

http://preventcancer.org/about-us/financials-policies/

Not just blowing hot air. Props to games done quick for raising money for what they think is worthy cause, but looking at the financial breakdowns, a good bit goes to education, and a good bit of that goes to salaries and catering. Sounds like a splendid party was funded!

Founder Carolyn R. Aldige makes over 300k a year! Wow, I think I wanna start a charity on video game addiction awareness! I'll be set for life! Millionaire in 3 years!

@khaosklub Maybe you could send AGDQ the contact details of 'an actual scientist' to make sure the money is spent more wisely?

Perhaps you might not think the charity in question is the best place for the funds to go - this is of course a valid question - but I find your cynicism surrounding the entire concept of a 'gaming marathon being organised for a good cause' to be slightly wearisome, and your mockery of donators to be in bad taste.

The corresponding summer event is in aid of Médecins Sans Frontières, and the events has also raised funds in the past for Japan Earthquake relief and the Organization for Autism Research. Maybe you find those more worthy recipients. Or maybe you don't.

Regardless, I feel a more productive approach would be for you actually suggest some alternative organisations or recipients that you think the money would be better used by (and preferably more specific than some generic 'actual scientist').

As it is, you've done little more than mock people for "that warm fuzzy feeling thinking you threw away money to do something good without leaving the comfort of your seat" - from the comfort of YOUR own seat, and crucially, have't provided any alternatives you think would be better.

You've raised a valid question; would there be better recipients of the funds from this event than PCF? But you haven't really made an attempt to answer it, meaning we're left with little more than unconstructive mockery.

@khaosklub Not to mention that the prevention and early detection that PCF advocates, and that you so soundly mock, has in fact saved countless lives including the life of my father. There is more to fighting cancer than just cancer research.

@khaosklub Also rofl she's not going to be a "millionaire in just three years" unless she has no living expenses at all and doesn't pay her taxes, which I would point out is highly illegal. Also unless some new math is invented where 300x3=1,000.

@Maxz
It's more a criticism of misleading charities than anything else. but you know, I personally don't care about helping people with cancer, but at least I'm honest. Donors pretend, but when it comes down to it, they do nothing.

You really care about people with cancer? Go figure out who these scientists are! Go do some research! Go volunteer and make someone who has cancer's life a little bit more bearable! Find someone who has cancer and fundraise for their treatment!

Sure, you care, you throw money at it but don't want to look at it. Like the parent who claims to love their child but pays someone else to raise it.

Just foing it half-heartedly. If your best friend is crying, do you pay someone else to console them? If they have a fever, do you donate to a fever prevention awareness charity? If your parents are going blind, do you use that as an excuse to make a blindness awareness charity to make 1/3 of a million a year? Actually, doesn't sound too bad. You can buy them bionic eyes or something with that kind of money.

Too bad the lady's father already died from cancer... that one million in 3 years would have probably allowed him to survive.

Besides, if it came down to it, if I dropped a name, would you really send him money? Would he take the money and retire? Would you do any significant research to make sure he's not a crackpot? Nobody cares about people with cancer. People only care about their loved ones with cancer.

And cynical? What is the optimist view? I presented plenty of evidence that the charity doesn't accomplish $1.2mil worth of good. What optimistic view is there? At least people mean well? Not their fault they gave money for a cause in which they knew nothing about and didn't bother to ask?

I know it's not pleasant to hear, but the truth hurts. The ugly truth. We usually cast a blind eye. Civilization couldn't continue if we collectively didn't

@Senario
"Live like they do in the less developed world where people have been living to a healthy age of 90+ cancer free!"

Not third world, just less developed. The conditional where clause suggests specifically those places where people do live to 90+ cancer free.

I know plenty of south american immigrants who are in their 90's. Their bodies are failing, but no cancer. Their kids who were born and raised here though... different stories.

Also, doctors perform x-rays, which are unhealthy... thus why they gtfo when they do. Pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness recommended mamograms (for women over 40 fine print) and exposing yourself to them could very well cause cancer.

@TheLobster
No, I don't mock prevention and detection, I mock the 1.2million+ used to advocate it. Also, they fund research, research on how to live healthy and better screening methods.

Also, obviously you didn't bother to check the link. 3 x over 300k. The reportable amount (the amount she has to tell uncle sam about) is 274k, plus about 64k in other organizational funds, well that just about seems to add to something that multiplied by 3, is over 9000.

Also, you aren't required to report all income, and some is untracable, cash is king afterall. There are plenty of ways to avoid taxes and report less than you make. Like companies never do illegal unscrupulous things... like selling mentally handicapped kids their own food back!

They don't provide screenings or actual prevention for high risk individuals though.

They do some good... not THAT much good and obviously have everyone fooled that they help cancer patients

@khaosklub that's some size of a chip you've got on your shoulder there pal, might wanna get that seen to...

@khaosklub

"Just foing it half-heartedly. If your best friend is crying, do you pay someone else to console them? If they have a fever, do you donate to a fever prevention awareness charity? If your parents are going blind, do you use that as an excuse to make a blindness awareness charity to make 1/3 of a million a year? Actually, doesn't sound too bad. You can buy them bionic eyes or something with that kind of money."

If my best friend is crying, I console them; that is something I am well qualified to do - perhaps one of the best qualified people on the planet. However, this is not comparable to them sustaining an injury, illness, or condition that I am completely unqualified and ill-equipped to help them with. In that case, I leave them to other people. I entrust them to the skills and resources of others in hope that they will recover (and ideally, I would wish that the condition never effected them in the first place).

Crucially, I trust that those skills, resources, and people exist in the first place. I trust that some structure exists which enables them to be efficiently dealt with. This is in part what the PCF provides. Perhaps it's not the most effective organisation in achieving those goals - I don't know. There's definitely a valid debate to be had in terms of who should benefit from these marathons, but this is a point you seem unwilling to engage in (despite being the first person to raise it).

People donate for this reason, and they donate to show appreciation for the activities that are being performed on behalf of it. If the latter point weren't true, there'd be no charitable point in the marathon. People trust the organisers of ADGQ to pick somewhere worthwhile to send the money because, to some extent, people will donate anyway. Because people want to see Awesome Games Done Quick.

Also, your final trite, moralising piece of fluff in which you cast yourself as some sort of sage-like truth-seer would hold a lot more weight if your hadn't demonstrably done less in your actions than 30,000+ people you're mocking.

It's all very well questioning the use of $1.2million, though focusing on GDQ's choice would be more constructive than launching a character attack on the donators themselves. Despite this, every person who contributed to that total has done more for something worthwhile than write a slimy comment on the internet, which is the position you find yourself arguing from.

"I know it's not pleasant to hear, but the truth hurts. The ugly truth. We usually cast a blind eye. Civilization couldn't continue if we collectively didn't."

Give me a civilisation in which people make active efforts to sort out a society-wide issues over one in which we're reduced to a bunch of bitter, carping contrarians who are more interested in pointing out how they see The Truth than constructively doing ANYTHING for the betterment of anyone.

I'm sure your messiah-complex in which you live as a persecuted, rejected truth teller gives you hours of fun, but I'd like to reinstate:

It doesn't actually DO anything.

@khaosklub "Also, obviously you didn't bother to check the link."

I clicked some of the links, didn't see anything out of order. Other links gave my computer security warnings, so I stopped.

I'm through talking with you. You obviously have a vendetta. I think it would be nice if AGDQ supported a different charity every once in a while (something to support Alzheimer's patients springs to mind), but you seem to have a problem with the very concept of charity as a whole. I volunteer in my community, I donate to charity, I do good in the world. I don't need to argue with internet trolls.

@Maxz
A lot of what you say makes sense. Someone's hurt, you take them to the doctor, because you're unqualified. But if you mother was injured, you would probably (hopefully) do some research on the doctors credentials. And you certainly wouldn't take your mother to the vet, now would you?

Just look at the first comment!
"Amazing ^^. I really hope all the money will help to make a good difference to cancer patients"

This is the image PCF projects, like pink ribbon and save the tattas, and looking at their financial records, just take a look at the link to their site, look at what nearly 2 mil is spent on. Would you take your mother to a band of gypsies for medical treatment? I would hope not. PCF may have done some good, but for the most part, they're swindlers. Founder makes over 300k and board of directors are volunteer workers, and make no income wink wink

Actually, I'm don't care about who benifits from the marathon, they can do whatever they like, they provide entertainment for money, they could keep it for all I care, my issue is with charity organizations like this one, and peoples lazy "slacktivism", but mostly the charities themselves.

AGDQ are doing what they love and people support it, like you said, regardless of chariy involvement.

But to praise these scumbag "non-profit"s really bothers me.

And people's halfheartedness disheartens me. There are people who go out and do something. If I found something to actually care about, I'd hope I would too, but people feeling good pretending to care is disgusting.

"Give me a civilisation in which people make active efforts to sort out a societal issues over one in which we're reduced to a bunch of bitter, carping contrarians who are more interested in pointing out how they see The Truth than constructively doing ANYTHING for the betterment of anyone."

Well, truth is in our perception, and if one believes he knows the truth, is not sharing that truth to the betterment of all? At least from his perspective? Should he not strive to inform others in that which he believes to be true? Particularly when he believes that truth will better everyone?

If one person at checkout whom is asked to donate $1 to some generic charity decides to stop using social media for 5 minutes to look up what that charity actually does, then I'll have done something.

I mean, I got 3 and a half naysayers so far, two of which I don't necessarily disagree with and are arguing against something I don't actually claim, though responses may be pending, and I don't really understand that one other commenter said, and then I'm not even sure what you're up in arms about, but you do concede points. Hardly persecuted, nor entirely rejected. I just don't sugar coat and tend to question things.

Messiah? I'm just saying stop pretending to care, and do some homework. I offer no salvation (perhaps the opposite). Only criticisms.

@TheLobster
You see though, volunteering in the community is something I support and have even suggested!

It's not charity itself that I take issue with, it's "non-profit" businesses.

A vendetta? Care to put into words what this vendetta is? Troll? Common buzz words used online to dismiss those with differing views, or was it the over 9000 joke that made me appear incredulous?