Charity in Virtual Worlds

 Last night I attended a music concert in Second Life that was part of a fund raising effort.  Relay For Life - which mirrors the real world relay - is a huge effort of many, many people from all over the world to help find the cure for cancer.  All monies raised are donated directly to the American Cancer Society.

An "All Star Band" made up of famous SL performers gave a kick-ass show.  The fact that they were streaming their music from 5 different places in real life was amazing.

What was even more wonderful - the fact that the people attending the concert donated enough Lindens (monetary unit of SL) to put the total for the fundraiser at $L1,000,000!  This translates to about $4,000US.

The RFL event is ongoing in SL from March to July, when we actually run the 24-hour relay inworld, at the same time that it is going on in the real world. Each year the generous people in Second Life, who are living all over the planet, donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to the ACS.  Last year it was $270,00US. 

So the next time someone says that "playing" in a virtual environment is worthless time spent, ask a cancer survivor what they think of people donating their time and money through virtual worlds.