Five thousand dollars is a lot of money to raise for charity. Raising even more than that is certainly more than one would expect from community college fundraisers. And yet, that’s exactly what the Brookdale Esports 24-Hour Livestreams have raised since they began, including more than $3,700 at the event last semester.

Being held every semester since the spring of 2024, each event has been a total variety show that has outshone the previous by orders of magnitude. Featuring games and players from the competitive season, but also party games, great players that have graduated making their grand return to show the rookies how it’s done, and even cameos from production members.

While it’s true that people will donate to charity out of the goodness of their heart, if that’s the only reason they did it, then having a livestream that raises money wouldn’t be necessary. No, the way these types of livestreams get money for charities is through donation goals. Viewers can donate specific amounts to do things like force someone to shamefully sit in a corner, do pushups, or even get a pie to the face.

But small donation goals are just that, small. These streams also have BIG goals where, if the total value of the donations gets high enough, big things can happen. Shaving the heads of people who REALLY don’t want to have their heads shaved, being covered in ice water outside in the middle of December, and more.

The livestream will be hosted online at twitch.tv/brookdale_esportsLinks to an external site. starting at 5 p.m. on Dec. 19, but people are also welcome to come in person to the Brookdale Esports Arena in the lower level of the Student Life Center, and all donations will go to the children’s health charity Extra Life.