As you may already know, this is the fourth year we (NJLanParty) have been participating in the Extra Life Gaming Marathon to support the Children’s Hospital. The idea behind Extra Life is to provide an outlet for gamers to support a great cause. Some people are runners, and they can run marathons, to support good causes. Other people are swimmers, and they swim laps. Some people are athletic, and they do pushups, or other exercises. I am a gamer. I play games. When I heard that there was a gaming marathon, I thought “This is something I can really get involved with”.

Some people wonder why playing games, something I would do anyway given the chance, is something people should donate to? Someone actually said, “Why would I PAY you to do what you do for free on your own.”  The thing I stress is you are not donating to me, you are donating to the Children’s Hospital. All I am doing is drawing your attention to a great cause and the good works that the hospital does.  The work and the miracles that happen in these hospitals really is amazing. Just check out some of their YouTube videos and you will see.

By donating to me, you are saying, “I agree with what you are doing, and I want to support that cause”.

For the fourth year in a row, we will be holding our marathon at Innovation Fitness Solutions (address below). We are very appreciative of Rob and the other trainers at IFS, who put up with us disrupting the Saturday and Sunday workouts, while we setup (and take down) tables, computers, and networks for 24 hours of gaming.

I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to come on down and say hello to the NJLP Extra Life team. We will have several games to play, we are always looking for new players, and we would love to teach you how to play. We have board games, card games, and computer games. This year, one of the guys will be bringing his Virtual Reality (VR) setup to demonstrate to anyone interested. This is really a cool new technology. You won’t believe how amazing it is.

Innovation Fitness Solutions is located in Bromat Plaza on Rt 23 North In Butler. The address is 1574 Rt 23 North – Butler, NJ. For a hint, as you are coming North on Route 23, you will pass Outback, then Goodyear, and then Bromat Plaza (IFS) will be immediately after Goodyear. If you reach the traffic light, you have gone too far. Once you pull into the shopping center, IFS will be in the middle of the long side. If you are stopping by after noon, we may be locking the front door, so please drive around to the back. We will have the back door open, and we will be just inside the door. Even with 24 hours, there are too many games, and not enough time. I would say the best hours to stop by would be anytime between 1PM and 10PM.

I will include a link (http://www.extra-life.org/participant/murdock) if you can help out with a donation. If you would prefer to donate to the hospital with a check or in person, we will have a donation jar on site. Remember, your donation is tax deductible, and 100% of it goes to the hospital.