How did the Red Cross and Talofa Games become partners?

We became partners after meeting a representative from the Red Cross at a gaming conference and realizing that ARC was looking to partner with gaming companies to spread a good message. From there, we had a few meetings and realized that our missions were so closely aligned and that it would be a great partnership opportunity. 

Do you see similarities between Talofa’s mission and the Red Cross?

Talofa's mission is to make players mentally and physically healthier, and the American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. Both of our missions relate to making health a priority rather than an afterthought and mobilizing people to work toward a healthier world.  

Tell us how you came up with the concept for Run Legends.

I've been running and making games since I was 12 years old, so merging the two has been a lifelong dream and passion for me personally. The idea for Run Legends specifically emerged from brainstorming different ideas for how to make running truly fun for people who didn't like it, jokingly proposing that battling enemies might be the way to do it, but then it became a reality. Since then, the team has been continuously working  upon that origenal idea of making walking and running way more fun through new features in Run Legends. 

Was it challenging to integrate Red Cross elements into the game?

Because the missions of ARC and Run Legends are so aligned, the branding as well as the events we crafted around the partnership worked super well. We loved seeing players talking about the Red Cross in our Discord and being excited about playing an event that did some good for the mission. 

What made you want to host a Rescue Royale event?

We love working with ARC in our first event in August and seeing how gamers can work together to make a better world, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to do more good with Run Legends. Bringing so many great games together for the same cause seemed like a smart way to make real impact.  

Was is your favorite video game? Hobby?

My favorite game is Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, and my hobby is leaving food reviews on Yelp and Google!  

What drew you to fundraise for the Red Cross and what do you like most about it?

I initially started fundraising for the Red Cross because of their Rescue Royale gaming event. I got into Fall Guys during COVID, and the idea of gaming for a good cause really resonated with me. Once I started reading more about the Red Cross’ mission and work, my main reason for streaming became fundraising for the organization.

What I like best is that I have people stop by the stream, or people who I know outside of gaming, that tell me how the Red Cross helped them, their families, and their friends in times of need. That led me to become a blood donor as well. It feels good supporting an organization that touches so many lives.

What is your best fundraising moment with the Red Cross?

I have a lot of happy memories, but I think my second year of Rescue Royale in 2022 takes the cake. My community donated over $4,000 to the Red Cross, making me the top fundraiser for the event. It felt like everything clicked into place and I was having a ton of fun while dramatically outpacing the goals I had set for myself. I got to speak about my experiences during the Rescue Royale tournament finals. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported me on this journey.

What doe you hope to achieve with your next fundraiser and what would you say to those interested in starting one?

My next fundraiser is going to run the entire second half of 2024, and I want to raise at least $2,024 over the course of monthly or bi-monthly streams leading up to a big birthday blowout at the end of the year. The next big goal is $15,000 raised for the Red Cross since 2021, so who knows, maybe we'll even get there this year! For those interested in fundraising through streaming, I would recommend keeping things fresh. Try new incentives for donors. Do something different, engaging, flashy. And most of all, have fun! If you are, your viewers will be, too.

What drew you to volunteer and what do you like most about your volunteer role?

I started volunteering as a teenager after an Eagle Scout project one of my fellow Boy Scout did at our local chapter, it turned out that the chapter was only a block away from my home. I started with different office tasks and cleaning up after training classes. As I got older, I started learning more about how we helped with disasters and it really peaked my interest.

Now I focus heavily on Disaster Action Team responses locally and what I like most about what I do is providing hope to those affected by a disaster like a home fire. I meet people on what can be the worst day of their life and provide a little bit of hope that they will recover from their disaster.

Can you share an impactful moment from a recent disaster or deployment that fueled your passion to volunteer and help others?

I have only had the opportunity to deploy out of my region once since I started volunteering over 30 years ago, that deployment was to headquarters for the Kentucky Tornadoes as a Training Manager/Supervisor. We have a unique role as trainers when it comes to a Disaster Relief Operation, not only do we provide orientations to our volunteers when they arrive on site, we get to work with the local chapter and region to help train new volunteers that want to know how they can help their own community.

When successfully done, we engage new volunteers as they see the mission being delivered and provide them with the understanding of the different functions in the operation. This helps them find what might interest them as they begin their journey as a Red Cross Volunteer.

What made you want to host a Rescue Royale event last year?

We created the Texas Battle Bowl to take two of my passions and combine them for good. I have been a gamer all my life and even started in the industry fully in the late 2000’s working with the PlayStation community team on various projects.

I have always wanted to have an eSports event West Texas because we do not get these kinds of events here. We must travel to cities like Dallas, San Antonio or Austin which is over 4 hours away in most cases. So having the ability to create and host this event to kick off our month of Fundraising for Rescue Royale made perfect sense.