Today marks the 11th annual North Texas Giving Day and the start of what will hopefully be an ongoing collaboration between esports organization Envy Gaming and Canine Companions for Independence. As one of the worlds largest esports organizations and owners of the Dallas Fuel franchise, the organization will enlist the help of its professional players in an effort to support the important role that service dogs play every day.
“With an esports industry audience of more than 60 million people in North America, we’re very optimistic that our partnership with Canine Companions will reveal that esports is a great way for nonprofits to connect with Millennials and Generation Z,” said Mike Rufail, the owner and CEO of the organization. Rufail seems more than willing to put his money where is mouth is and has pledged to match donations up to $10,000.
The Canine Companions for Independence was founded in 1975 and strives to unite people of all ages with trained assistance dogs. The organization also works to match dogs with military veterans returning from conflict areas with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and networks dogs with professions who work in healthcare, education, and criminal justice sectors.
In the future, Envy Gaming and Dallas Fuel players will be providing support to Canine Companions at their national signature fundraising event, DogFest DFW, as well as through future opportunities, which will be announced later for 2019 and 2020.
The fundraising efforts are part of the ongoing use of video games and esports for charitable purposes. Recently, Benjamin “DrLupo” Lupo held a stream playing Fortnite that broke fundraising records. DrLupo raised a staggering $920,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. DrLupo and singer Grant “GRiZ” Kwiecinski also raised $18,000 for The Trevor Project through another stream.
Anyone interested in making a donation should act fast, as North Texas Giving Day is an 18-hour online event designed to empower individuals to give back to their community. While donations can be made to Canine Companions, Rufail’s offer to match donations up to a total of $10,000 is an opportunity that should not be missed and can check out the North Texas Giving Day website to make a donation.
Source: Envy