www.esafoundation.org

With the end of the year nearly upon us, the ESA Foundation is reflecting on a great 2014.

Our 17th annual Nite to Unite – For Kids (NTU) was a great success. Held in San Francisco, Calif., on October 22, NTU brought video game industry leaders and partner organizations together to help make a positive social impact by raising money for the ESA Foundation’s grant and scholarship programs. We honored our current and former grantees and scholarship recipients, and highlighted our special partnership with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals) to promote Extra Life. Through the power of video game play, Extra Life raised more than $5.6 million for children’s hospitals across the country. You can view pictures from the gala event on our Facebook page.

We invite you to take a short post-NTU survey to provide feedback of your overall experience to help make NTU 2015 even better.

Your generosity allows the ESA Foundation to continue to support these great organizations and programs that make a positive difference in the lives of today’s youth. As the holiday season approaches, we hope you will consider making a contribution to the ESA Foundation. To donate, visit Network for Good’s website.

With appreciation and warm wishes for the holiday season,

Jenny Lai
Vice President, ESA Foundation

Extra Life and the ESA Foundation announce ESA Foundation Challenge winners

In partnership with the ESA Foundation, Extra Life, a 24-hour video game marathon to benefit CMN Hospitals, raised more than $5.6 million this fall. Thanks to thousands of participating gamers, the effort exceeded last year’s fundraising totals by approximately $1 million, with all proceeds going to support medical research and treatment at more than 170 CMN Hospitals across the U.S. and Canada.

This year, Extra Life partnered with the ESA Foundation to feature a new ESA Foundation Challenge, which awarded $30,000 grants to the hospital whose players raised the most money during the marathon and also to the hospital with the highest per capita fundraising.

The ESA Foundation congratulates the Extra Life winners: Children’s Hospital and Research Center of Oakland and its affiliate, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland as the highest overall fundraising hospital; Dell Children’s Hospital located in Austin, Texas is the winner of the highest per-capita-fundraising hospital. Each raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars for their hospital.

Extra Life is accepting donations through 2014. Visit Extra Life's website to learn more.

Grantee spotlight: Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

As an organization dedicated to supporting independent international journalism, The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting promotes high-quality reporting and explores different and creative ways to engage audiences on the global issues journalists cover. The center's educational programs inform students about global issues, help them think critically about the creation and dissemination of news and inspire them to become active consumers and producers of information.

As a 2014 grantee, the center received support from the ESA Foundation for its game TB2: Mali’s Ancient Manuscripts, a browser-based computer game. Through this immersive role-playing game, students ages 12 to 14 virtually experience being an international journalist and embark on a journey to the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu. The game assigns them to report on a fire set to a local library and the Ahmed Babu Institute, both of which housed manuscripts dating from the 13th century.

A screenshot of TB2: Mali’s Ancient Manuscripts

As they play, students learn about the culture of Timbuktu and intricacies of international journalism. From validating information to recognizing bias while meeting editor deadlines, the players are exposed to the full process of an international journalism assignment.

"We're deeply grateful to the ESA Foundation for helping us take our first step into the world of educational games,” said Nathalie Applewhite, managing director at the Pulitzer Center. “We think there is tremendous potential to expand on TB2 by drawing on in-depth reporting from around the world to create a rich platform for exploring global issues through the lens of journalism.”

TB2: Mali’s Ancient Manuscripts is available for download. Visit the Pulitzer Center’s website for more information.

STEM students graduate from Digital Living Project

Last month, more than 100 students at Los Angeles’ STEM Academy of Hollywood graduated from the ESA Digital Living Project, a program offered to Los Angeles-area middle schools by EverFi in partnership with ESA and the ESA Foundation. The program uses an interactive media platform to help students understand the power of technology. During a graduation ceremony at the school, STEM Academy Principal Paul Hirsch congratulated the inaugural class, stressed the importance of digital citizenship and encouraged them to set a positive example for other students.

Students celebrate their ESA Digital Living Project success

For more information about the ESA Digital Living Project, visit EverFi’s website.