Gamers Charity

Gamers Charity is Done.

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 21:46:12 -0600

It is with great regret and sadness that I offically announce that GamersCharity is closing down.

It was almost one year ago that a small idea of mine brought the Ultima Online community together in ways I could never have imagined, and we worked together to donate over $10,000 to Charity organizations that helped those affected by natural disasters. I met some great people along the way, and do not regret the loss of sleep or negligence at work and home.

The last two months of this year has been full of stress at work and home, and I honestly have not had the time to do much with Ultima Online or GamersCharity in the past month.

I do have a few auctions left I can throw out, which I aim to do this week. If anyone noticed, all the auctions in the past few months were 100% donation (except for only a couple), and I will sell some personal items next year on my normal eBay account to try and offset those expenses.

I know some people wished to continue GamersCharity - however for legal reasons I am keeping the domain. If anyone wishes to follow in my footsteps, I will of course throw all my advice I can to you.

It's been a pleasure, and my sincere apologies for bringing it to a closure.

$10,000 Donation Mark!

Tue, 25 Oct 2005 08:50:26 -0600

Gamers Charity is happy to announce that as of last night, total donations to Charities focusing on giving aid to natural disaster victims from the Tsunami and the Hurricanes over $10,000.

A huge Thank You to everyone who has donated items for Auctions, to those that purchased the auctions online, to those that organized in-game functions to raise donations, and others that used the online airwaves, forums, and websites to promote GamersCharity. All of this would not have been possible without you !

eBay auctions back online!

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 23:09:06 -0600

My credit card issues have been solved, and MissionFish is happy to get their latest payment for $1,000 !

That means Auctions are back online!

Credit Card Issues

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 10:32:14 -0600

Auctions are on hold a bit at the moment due to Credit Card issues, that isn't allowing Mission Fish to collect their donations (and so far has one of my UO Accounts on hold!)

It really is a funny story what's going on, so if you want to read about a page in my personal life, read on. I expect Auctions to be back as soon as my new card arrives in the mail.

Crazy Joe Out of Town till Sunday!

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 10:38:04 -0600

Hello all!

I am leaving town today and back on Sunday.

Brekkee is now in charge! Please contact her if you have any donations to give.

I have also placed several auctions on eBay this morning before I leave, that end the day after I return. Be sure to check them out!

I have uploaded the new spreadsheet, and it shows the total donation to Charity this year is $9,691.59.

Thanks all, and see you when I get back!

UOradio.com Weekly Lottery Fundraiser!

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 08:33:27 -0600

UORadio.com has organized an impressive lottery, in which Ultima Online players can help donate to Charity and win some virtual gold!

UORadio.com is proud to announce that it will begin doing a weekly lottery for a chance for people to win up to 100 million gold on the shard of their choice with the exception of Siege and Mugen (in which the prize amounts are reduced by two-thirds if chosen) in which will serve as a fund-raiser for both Gamers Charity (who are using the gold sales to support those affected by Hurricane Katrina and soon to be Hurricane Rita) and UORadio.com

Be sure to read all the details at UORadio.com

MSNBC.Com Article

Thu, 22 Sep 2005 11:18:21 -0600

Tom Loftus of MSNBC.com has posted a story about our work with Ultima Online and Red Cross:

Questing for charity
Over at "Ultima Online," a massive multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG, Joe Harden says he has committed $200 to the Red Cross with another $200 awaiting conversion from gold to U.S. dollars.

Gold? Dollars?

MMORPGs like "Ultima Online" are infamous for the time users spend online in their never-ending quest to improve, or level up, their character. Success in questing or other challenges
yields gold, "Ultima Online's" virtual monetary system, or other goods.

Over the past decade such items have gained a real world value, particularly among players not content to gain status the old fashioned way, with a gray market for virtual money and goods appearing on eBay and a handful of virtual world-specific auction sites.

Harden first tapped into that market after the Asian tsunami. Selling his own gold and gold donated by other "Ultima Online" players on eBay, he raised $8,000 in five months.

"Although players become absorbed in the virtual world," Harden e-mailed MSNBC.com, "this proves how concerned they are about the real world around them."

Harden's Web site, GamersCharity.com, is now collecting for Katrina relief and word of the project is being spread by game players soliciting gold within "Ultima Online."

"People I have never met or talked to contact me at all times of the day to ask where they may donate virtual goods," said Harden.

It's a great read about all the Virtual Charity work going on, other than Gamers Charity. Be sure to read it!

Sick :/

Sun, 18 Sep 2005 16:54:34 -0600

Just to let folks know why things are a bit slow - one of my kids brought home a nasty cold from school Monday night, and since we tought him the values of sharing, I've been with the cold since Thursday and spent most of the weekend on the couch entertaining the now healthy kids!

I know I missed a few ICQs, sorry about that, and I'm trying to keep up ! Some good news, my new spreadsheet shows $574.00 donated to Red Cross this month!

Ultima Online Charity Fundraisers!

Tue, 13 Sep 2005 10:06:03 -0600

I would like to thank everyone for the donations given and auctions bought so far, over $295.10 is on the way Red Cross, with much more on the way.

There are two ingame fundraisers going on I hope everyone can make some time for:

Sosaria Live, is holding a 36 hour live telethon!

We will be holding a 36 hour telethon, on air - live DJs starting at 7pm EST on Friday, September 23rd and lasting until 7am on Sunday the 25th.
During this time, not only will be we playing a variety of great music, we'll be taking donations for Crazy Joe's website Gamers Charity. Vendors will be set up at Luna locations across all shards and donations can be made directly to the DJ on air. We will have gold levels for different items such as shout outs, song requests and dedications.

Be sure to visit Sosaria Live for all the information!

Players of the Lake Superior Shard can also help by attending the charity auctions hosted by the Shadowlands.

The Shadowlands is organizing a telethon to raise "gold for cash" to donate to the Red Cross for Katrina Relief. Every night this week and next week we plan to be at the Skara Brae Community Center from 8pm to 10pm central raising gold and accepting donations.

For more information, visit this Stratics Thread!

Thanks to everyone who donate in-game and through the eBay Auctions. In addition, I urge everyone to donate their time, money, and resources directly to the Hurricane Katrina victims in any way they can. The news doesn't seem to be getting much better with the Gulf Coast areas hit the hurricane, and they still need help as fast as they can get it. The Red Cross has plenty of information and resources.

Ultima Online Charity Fundraisers!

Tue, 13 Sep 2005 10:06:03 -0600

I would like to thank everyone for the donations given and auctions bought so far, over $295.10 is on the way Red Cross, with much more on the way.

There are two ingame fundraisers going on I hope everyone can make some time for:

Sosaria Live, is holding a 36 hour live telethon!

We will be holding a 36 hour telethon, on air - live DJs starting at 7pm EST on Friday, September 23rd and lasting until 7am on Sunday the 25th.
During this time, not only will be we playing a variety of great music, we'll be taking donations for Crazy Joe's website Gamers Charity. Vendors will be set up at Luna locations across all shards and donations can be made directly to the DJ on air. We will have gold levels for different items such as shout outs, song requests and dedications.
Be sure to visit Sosaria Live for all the information!

Players of the Lake Superior Shard can also help by attending the charity auctions hosted by the Shadowlands.

The Shadowlands is organizing a telethon to raise "gold for cash" to donate to the Red Cross for Katrina Relief. Every night this week and next week we plan to be at the Skara Brae Community Center from 8pm to 10pm central raising gold and accepting donations.

For more information, visit this Stratics Thread!

Thanks to everyone who donate in-game and through the eBay Auctions. In addition, I urge everyone to donate their time, money, and resources directly to the Hurricane Katrina victims in any way they can. The news doesn't seem to be getting much better with the Gulf Coast areas hit the hurricane, and they still need help as fast as they can get it. The Red Cross has plenty of information and resources.

Auctions Back Online

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 13:19:02 -0600

There hasn't been any auctions as of late due to real life health & work problems, but I couldn't stomach inaction this week while following the news with Hurricane Katrina slamming into the Southeastern United States.

If you wish to donate you can contact me:

ICQ 442571

AIM CarnivorousJoe

email CrazyJoe@gamerscharity.com

May Update!

Mon, 02 May 2005 21:25:10 -0600

Five months since inception, and I'm sorry to say that there was not much activity last month due to personal RL issues, combined with Mission Fish & eBay changing everything with Charitable Auctions.

There is some good news -- total Charitable Donations has reached $8,000 ! I have gold left only on the following servers : Baja, Catskills, Drachenfels, Europa, Lake Superior, Oceania, and Pacific. I am afraid things may go too slow on Pacific, and I'll end up doing a Shard Transfer.

Mid March Update

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 23:48:19 -0600

Just wanted to let everyone know that things are still going here, and I have done some updates around the site.

First I have updated and reviewed all the donation houses in Ultima Online here.

Second I am in the middle of updating the spreadsheet for upload tomorrow, however total donations to charity are now a bit over $7,100.

Third, I'm trying to catch up on current auctions and deliveries at the moment, but I'm afraid the next batch will be the last auction for one or two servers - stay tuned for more on that. I am sorry to say that I have had to file twice with eBay for non-paying auction winners.

Forth, I have studied eBay's policy a bit more, and spruced up the auctions themselves and now offer a "about me" section at eBay that links directly to this site! For those that don't remember, linking to the website in the auctions themselves resulted in eBay shutting me down the first time.

Last but not least, I combed through the site to make some minor updates & corrections, notably the change in fees I collect from auctions in response to eBay's new policy on 100% donation auctions.

New Tsunami Charity Selected & Change in Donations

Mon, 28 Feb 2005 09:33:48 -0600

After a weekend of research, I have decided to sell what Virtual Stock I have on hand at this time for Americares. Anything I receive from here on out will default to Red Cross unless otherwise requested by the person donating.

Red Cross no longer giving aide to Tsunami Victims

Thu, 24 Feb 2005 16:39:13 -0600

While checking up on my auctions today I was stunned to read the following in the Mission Fish box:

The American Red Cross is a national network of nearly 900 field units, 1-million volunteers and 36,000 employees dedicated to saving lives and helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. PLEASE NOTE: All items sold after January 31, 2005 will no longer be designated for Tsunami relief.