Video Game Marathon Raises Over $1 Million in 1 Week for Cancer Prevention

HERNDON, Va., Jan. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Donations to the Prevent Cancer Foundation tallied more than $1 million when the sun came up on Sunday, the end of the non-stop, weeklong "Awesome Games Done Quick," (AGDQ) a video game marathon.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140113/DC45243)

The fourth annual marathon, hosted by Speed Demos Archive, began January 5, with the goal of raising $500,000 for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, the only U.S. nonprofit organization solely devoted to cancer prevention and early detection. Over the past three marathons, a total of more than $646,000 was raised to benefit the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Proceeds from AGDQ for the last two years have funded 2 two-year cancer prevention research grants.

Speed Demos Archive focuses on "speedrunning" or completing video games in the shortest time possible. For AGDQ 2014, more than 500 of the site's community members and friends traveled from across the United States and around the world. At one point, 109,923 viewers were watching the marathon, which was streamed live around the clock. More than 18,000 individual donors made more than 27,400 donations, many bidding on video game prizes donated for the event. The average donation was $37.01. Games like Super Mario, Halo and Legend of Zelda, new and classic favorites, were beaten in record time.

"When the Prevent Cancer Foundation began its relationship with Speed Demos Archive back in 2010," said Jan Bresch, Prevent Cancer's Foundation Executive Vice President and COO, "we knew how dedicated the volunteers and donors to marathon were, but we never imagined this event would raise $1 million to save lives through cancer prevention and early detection. It is a dream come true and we thank this amazing group of individuals for making it a reality." Learn more by visiting preventcancer.org.

Speed Demos Archive and Prevent Cancer Foundation representatives are available for media interviews.

About the Prevent Cancer Foundation:
The mission of the Prevent Cancer Foundation is to save lives through cancer prevention and early detection. Founded in 1985, the Foundation has provided more than $134 million in support of cancer prevention and early detection research, education, advocacy and community outreach nationwide. For more information, please visit www.preventcancer.org

MEDIA CONTACT: 
Melissa Merson
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SOURCE Prevent Cancer Foundation