Helping Haiti

In wake of the massive earthquake which devasted Haiti last week there has been an increasing attention from my peers wanting to help. Unfortunately, due to apathy or ignorance, their help is limited to them only joining a group on a social networking site like Facebook while in all actuality is probably making a false promise to send aid rather than making a guarantee to do so. As many of my peers are also gamers, the link at the bottom of this entry might be of interest to those wishing to help.

Bungie (the company that created the Xbox and Xbox 360 franchise Halo) is holding a charity for the earthquake victims of Haiti. There are several charity options in which all funds accured will be donated to Red Cross. The first involves purchasing a special shirt in which all proceeds will be donated to Haiti. Furthermore, until the end of Februrary all profits made on products from the Bungie store will be donated to Haiti's recovery. The second will allow users to donate directly to Red Cross. The third and final option will require more of a gamers time. On Wednesday and Thursday this week, the 20th and 21st respectfully, any player who plays Halo 3 or Halo: ODST on Xbox Live who creates a special emblem during these days can help contribute to a $77,000 dollar goal by simply playing on Live. For every 1000 gamers online with this emblem, Bungie will donate $100. Every time you play a game over Live, your gamertag is counted and in theory you can add a guest account to your game if you have an extra controller and get counted twice if you create the same icon for this user. The required design details for the icon can be found in the link below. You can make a difference from the comfort of your own home by doing something you probably enjoy.

http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=BeAHero

Cheers,

Eric Summers