Journalism Coverage: Gamers vs. Diabetes Fundraiser

This article covers the conclusion of a week-long charity event hosted by service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega of Santa Clara University for diabetes awareness. (Nov. 7, 2020)

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SCU’s Alpha Phi Omega preps for the last night of Gamers vs. Diabetes fundraiser

UPDATE: 8:49 pm PST

On this Saturday evening, Santa Clara University’s chapter of the professional fraternity Alpha Phi Omega wraps up their Gamers vs. Diabetes fundraiser with a 4-hour Twitch stream of popular video game, Among Us. The Among Us livestream will conclude their week-long community service event throughout which they have raised over $100, all of which will be donated to diabetes-awareness organization Beyond Type 1.

Tonight’s stream in particular is set to start at 8:00 pm Pacific time, but before the online event begins, the head of the ongoing fundraiser shares how Gamers vs. Diabetes came to be. Melanie Sam, junior and current member of APO’s Executive Committee, is in charge of creating and hosting community service events. She says, “Gamers vs. Diabetes came from Gamers vs. Cancer!” This week’s fundraiser is a followup to the prior success of Gamers vs. Cancer which was conducted in the same manner--APO brothers signed up to play games live on Twitch, during which they advertised and monitored donations from viewers. By the end of Gamers vs. Cancer, APO earned over $500, which went to the American Cancer Society.

The week’s donations have been made by both anonymous viewers and members of the co-ed fraternity. Sam jokingly says, “As we continued to stream, we got a little competitive and some bets were made on how many kills a brother would make in a game, etc.” All of the betting on video game performance is used as a playful way for the brothers to contribute their donations.

Gamers vs. Diabetes, in addition to being a charity event, has also been a way for APO members to stay connected during the online Fall quarter as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. The host of tonight’s stream is brother and junior, Will Johnston, who discusses how Gamers vs. Diabetes has kept the spirit of the fraternity alive. He says, “The weekday streams are always nice ‘cause it allows people to take a break in the week and just hang and have fun with friends.” When asked about similar streaming-based fundraisers in the future, he talks about hope and excitement for more in the “Gamers vs.” series. “I would absolutely love to see more of the ‘Gamers vs.’ series. It's been a blast thus far and it’s been really successful which is great! I would definitely like to see us mix it up in terms of games and whatnot every once in a while,” Johnston says. Even when students resume full on-campus residency, he says he hopes this can continue as a series for charity.

UPDATE: 8:49 pm PST

At the moment, the stream has 9 viewers in addition to the 8 brothers who are currently participating in the fundraiser by playing Among Us. Will Johnston is currently on camera and the audience sees his screen and hears his narrated input, even as he is muted to other players on voice chat. The viewership numbers are similar to streams from the previous days of the event, throughout which viewers came and went, accumulating about 50-60 viewers in total. At this point, the APO brothers have now raised $155.70.

In addition to the brothers playing who can verbally communicate with the stream audience, APO brothers pop into the Twitch chat to send out messages supporting the players and reminding people to donate to Beyond Type 1. Such messages say things like “plz donate to beyond type 1, link is below the stream,” and “i miss you” to the fellow brothers. The voice chat and the stream’s online comment section are filled with laughter, chatter, and prompts to donate as the night continues.

Over the week, Gamers vs. Diabetes has also streamed a variety of other popular video games including League of Legends and Call of Duty. 100% of the money made will be given to Beyond Type 1, an organization dedicated to educating people about Type 1 diabetes, and to providing resources and support to those whose lives are affected by Type 1. It follows the selected theme of APO’s National Service Week, the theme of which is diabetes-awareness this year.