Press Start
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the film, see Press Start (film).
Press Start Children's Foundation is a charity that organizes donations of toys and video games for children's hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Its name derives from a common message in video games prompting players to press the "start" button to initiate gameplay.
Drew Matthews, Derek McCrone and Daniel Ryan created Press Start in 2005 as a way to combat the negative stereotype of gamers as ticking timebombs while doing some good for children in hospital. It began from a 2004 donation of a single Nintendo GameCube to the McMaster Children's Hospital for the holiday season.
[edit] How it works
Users can donate money through Paypal, cash, or check. They can also purchase toys from an Amazon.com wishlist or send toys directly to the warehouse. 100% of all donations are distributed to the hospitals. Press Start does not take away any money for administrative fees; these fees are covered out-of-pocket from the directors as their contribution or by fundraising events held throughout the year with any surplus going towards the purchase of more toys.
[edit] History
In early October 2005 with no startup budget, Press Start incorporated as a non-profit and began soliciting donations from family and friends using word-of-mouth. On December 20, the final numbers were calculated, and the first donation of $2,800 was made to the McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario.
Press Start became an official registered charity in Canada and began its 2006 Gift of Gaming campaign on August 1. For 2006, they aim to collect $10,000 in donations.
