Editor’s note: Sounds like a very worthy cause (no pun intended). Bitmob will be donating a package full of video games to this organization. -Shoe
I’ve been a regular reader of this site since its inception, but…well, I’m lazy and never attempted to contribute. I’m more of a lurker who just reads the efforts of others, and I must say, everyone has done a spectacular job of entertaining me and killing countless of hours of my work day. But today I finally feel as though I have something worth contributing.
Recently I went to a company function at my wife’s work and heard about a charity that I think the Bitmob community could really get behind. CAUSE, or Comfort for America’s Uniformed Services, is a nonprofit organization that attempts to provide wounded veterans some form of comfort and entertainment while in a hospital.
They offer a wide range of options, but for a gamer — and for the Bitmob family (we can call it a family, no?) — the most interesting one is that they advocate using video games as a way to help patients, both in terms of improving morale by taking patients’ minds off their treatment and as a way to help motor skills.
They came up with something dubbed the C-DEL — or CAUSE Digital Entertainment Library. Essentially, it’s a collection of video games and movies that they can provide to the soldiers or their families while in the hospital. Think of it as Blockbuster video, only for free. Specifically in the Detroit area (where I’m from), they have created a special “video game cart” that consists of a PS3 and television hooked up to a type of dolly that allows it to maneuver around hospital beds and chairs. I saw a prototype, and it was very well-designed.
As someone who has spent some amount of time in a hospital, I can attest to the fact that it is not fun. About two years ago, I was in the hospital for about five days, in a very non-life-threatening situation and definitely not injured in a heroic fashion as these soldiers are — but let me tell you it is a downer. There is almost nothing to hold your interest: Daytime TV (Price is Right aside) is total garbage, and boredom settles in very quickly. Friends and family can only visit for so long.
I cannot fathom being in a bed like that for as long as many of our wounded veterans are. I actually convinced a nurse to let my friend bring in my Xbox 360 and hook it up to the TV so that I had something to distract me during the day. This is the very essence of the gaming cart and the C-DEL in general. Not only will they help patients cope with the enormous amounts of free time they have, they can also help out anyone with children to distract them while their mother or father receive treatment.
Their website is www.cause-usa.org. Donations can be made by clicking the appropriate link on the right side of the page (they break it down by different VA Hospitals, so you can donate to a location of your choosing), and then you can buy a DVD, video game, or gift card directly through Amazon.com.
I am not associated with them in any direct manner, but I thought I would help get the word out about this program to a community that cares about video games and understands how entertaining and fun they can be. If me buying Madden or Need For Speed offers even a moment of relief from tragedy for an injured soldier, I’d say that’s worth $60.
Thank you.