SCEA At The 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend
The NBA "All-Star Weekend" is what dreams are made of for the fans of the NBA. During this time, the best and brightest stars of the NBA gather annualy, to compete against each other in a east vs west show down. On game night, screaming fans not easily segregated by divisions (east versus west) often cheer for either their favorite NBA star or their side of the fence as it relates to east versus the west coast teams.
However, this is not just about basketball. It's about charity.
And there's no greater place to distribute this charity than in this year's home for "All-Star Weekend", New Orleans.
Aside from the "all-star game", jam sessions, "all-star" highlights, and celebrity parties that can quickly deplete your finances, what often flies under the radar are the charitable events taking place. Companies do take the time out to give back to the community in conjunction with a few NBA stars. One such company is Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA).
The Children Hospital of New Orleans, is where I met up with SCEA representatives Ron Eagle and Alex Armour who introduced me to Jeff Helminger, who is a Recreational Therapist for the hospital. The Mission of the hospital is to provide comprehensive pediatric healthcare, which recognizes the special needs of children through excellence and continuous improvement of patient care, education, research, child advocacy and management.
Jeff gave a guided tour of the hospital showcasing several places including a few rooms, one of which is called the "teen room". This room was mainly used for unmonitored recreation. This is the kids' "safe haven" of sorts since there are no doctors or nurses that the patients had to worry about. The only machines that were in this room were PlayStation 2's and PlayStation 3's. Jeff further explained that the kids have it hard and anything that can distract them and remind them that they are kids, is great. He was very grateful to SCEA for being able to give the kids the tools in order to do just that.
We followed him down a few halls and came to a second room containing a 'roll-a-way' cart. The cart had two HD-TV's, 2 PlayStation 3's, and 2 PlayStation 2's. Ron and Alex explained that the cart was intended for any child that was not able to participate in the "teen room" or could not leave their room.
Sony's charity will have a lasting effect on those whose lives they've touched as a result of their generosity. It will no doubt provide a sense of normalcy to those children living rather non-normal lives due to their illness. Many thanks to The Children Hospital of New Orleans, Jeff Helminger and SCEA for inviting Gamecore into their facility.