Puna resident Shane Hanley and his son, Tristan, who live stream Dungeons & Dragons on YouTube for a show they call Saturday Morning Wartoons, raised more than $600 on Dec. 26, 2020, for Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children.
“We have a lot of fun playing together,” Shane said. “D&D such a good bonding activity and we wanted to help families that don’t get to spend that kind of quality time together because of illness. I feel really lucky and we both want to help others when we can.”
Their fundraiser was part of a global fundraising effort in the gaming community called Extra Life where gamers “stream” their gameplay live online via websites like YouTube or Twitch. The gamers then encourage viewers to make donations.
“I think we we are the only Hawaii D&D gamers to do this in 2020,” Shane said. “We are definitely the only one with an 8-year-old playing a ninja-robot fighting dragons.”
“It will help sick kids get the care they need,” Tristan added. “I had a lot of fun and I want to do more fundraisers so that we can help more kids and families in need.”
Shane is the owner of Behold Enrichment which connects children and encourages academic, social, and emotional engagement through playing Dungeons & Dragons.