This last year for Christmas, we helped raise $1,200 for the VFW to give 20 families a Christmas. We even got everything on their list. One of those things that I was passionate about — I threw my funds in on top of it to make sure I got it done — was the PS4 for a young kid from a veteran family with a missing father.
People come to me sometimes and they’re like, “I got a cause” — like the VFW. One of them messaged me privately, and I vetted him. I got his information; I got his 401C, and I got his bank account information so that I knew they were legitimate.
That is the primary goal: If you are going to do any kind of fundraising, you don’t deal with the cash yourself. Also, make sure you vet the people you’re giving the money to.
Besides that, we also do things like suicide-prevention strain streams. The last one we did was 35 minutes in from my end. I put seven streamers together — two of which were veterans because that’s our most at-risk community for suicide prevention.
Right behind them were us — gamers and streamers because a lot of us are alone or introverts and we struggle to communicate outside of ourselves. However, gaming allows us to open up.
So, when doing suicide prevention awareness, we’re not asking for donations; we’re just asking people to be aware, to reach out to people, and to let them know they’re not alone.
There are many opportunities to do things without money or without asking for money, since, sometimes, that’s a turnoff.
In summary, vet who you’re going to work with. Then, make sure that you’re going to represent them while you’re doing what you’re doing. That way you don’t reflect poorly on their cause because you’re their face at the moment.
