FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kyra Meister
703-836-1746
kyra.meister@preventcancer.org
Alexandria, Va. – In the early hours of Sunday morning, January 15, Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ)—an annual livestreamed video game marathon organized by Games Done Quick—concluded their week-long event and announced a fundraising total of $2.6 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
For its third year in a virtual format, all-star gamers from around the world met online to speedrun—play as fast as possible—their favorite games. Tens of thousands tuned in from across the U.S. and around the world to watch the “best of the best” take on their favorite games. All games were played live beginning on January 8 until the event’s conclusion on January 15.
The gaming community showed their support for cancer prevention and early detection efforts while watching the stream on the official Games Done Quick Twitch channel by donating to the Prevent Cancer Foundation throughout the week. Nearly 40,000 donations were made from more than 21,000 individual donors.
During this year’s event, gamers also celebrated the overwhelming achievements of Games Done Quick founder Mike Uyama. Uyama, who started the organization in his mother’s basement in 2010. He has grown Games Done Quick into a thriving organization that has raised more than $41 million for charities, including the Prevent Cancer Foundation and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).
From left to right: Amy Sokal, Managing Director, Finance and Administration, at the Prevent Cancer Foundation, Mike Uyama, and Jody Hoyos
“We are in awe of Mike’s commitment to making the world a better place through gaming. His vision has inspired hundreds of thousands of people and raised millions of dollars for cancer prevention and early detection,” said Jody Hoyos, CEO of the Prevent Cancer Foundation. “Our vision is a world where cancer is preventable, detectable and beatable for all, and nobody has inspired us more than Games Done Quick to believe that all things are beatable.”
In over a decade of supporting the Prevent Cancer Foundation, Games Done Quick has helped fund research, technology, cancer prevention and early detection education and outreach, and community grants both in the U.S. and abroad. Earlier this week, the Prevent Cancer Foundation announced funding for cancer prevention and early detection projects in Haiti and Kenya—made possible by AGDQ—through its global grants program.
To learn more about AGDQ’s impact on the Prevent Cancer Foundation, visit www.preventcancer.org/agdq.
###
About the Prevent Cancer Foundation®
The Prevent Cancer Foundation® is the only U.S.-based nonprofit organization solely dedicated to cancer prevention and early detection. Through research, education, outreach and advocacy, we have helped countless people avoid a cancer diagnosis or detect their cancer early enough to be successfully treated. We are driven by a vision of a world where cancer is preventable, detectable and beatable for all.
The Foundation is rising to meet the challenge of reducing cancer deaths by 40% by 2035. To achieve this, we are committed to investing $20 million for innovative technologies to detect cancer early and advance multi-cancer screening, $10 million to expand cancer screening and vaccination access to medically underserved communities, and $10 million to educate the public about screening and vaccination options.
For more information, please visit www.preventcancer.org.
