When he was hospitalized as a teenager following an appendectomy, Mark Canner’s time as a patient was made easier by hospital staff who brought a video game system to his room.
The chance to play video games with friends and family helped calm his nerves and made the time pass by quickly.
That experience is one Canner, 27, now a second-year student at WMed, has never forgotten and it helped fuel an idea that led to the Indianapolis, Indiana, native launching a fundraiser to collect new video games and video game systems for the Child Life Program at Bronson Children’s Hospital.
“My hope was that we could brighten up the holidays for the patients at Bronson Children’s Hospital,” said Canner, who has enjoyed and loved video games since he was a child. “I just want to help make their stays a little more comfortable. I’m hopeful this will do that and help keep their minds off of the things that are going on.”
Canner said he toyed with the idea of a video game fundraiser for Bronson Children’s Hospital for some time before finally jumping all in and kickstarting the effort in November with a Super Smash Bros. tournament that was attended by several fellow students from the medical school.
He worked with the medical school’s Office of Admissions and Student Life to produce a flyer that he distributed locally and he reached out to numerous video game developers, as well as several Kalamazoo-area businesses, including Fanfare, Harding’s Markets, JBM Technology, LFG Gaming Bar, and Taco Bob’s.
The response from those efforts, Canner said, has been overwhelming and more than he could have ever expected.
Since late November, he has received T-shirts and more than 35 video games from 10 different developers from across the country and globe, including California, Germany and Australia. The game developers who have donated to Canner’s fundraiser include 11 bit Studios, Annapurna, Capcom, Choice Provisions, EA, House House, Matt Makes Games, THQ Nordic, Unknown Worlds, and WayForward.
Local businesses and students have also donated more than $500, which helped with the purchase of a new PlayStation 4 and an Xbox 1, as well as extra controllers for each console that will be donated to Bronson Children’s Hospital.
“I really wasn’t sure how it was all going to turn out,” Canner said. “It has been more than I expected.”
For now, the donations Canner has received are being stored in the Office of Admissions and Student Life at WMed and donations are still being accepted. On Friday, December 20, 2019, Canner is scheduled to deliver the video games, PlayStation 4, and the Xbox One to Bronson Children’s Hospital. He said he also hopes to spend time with some of the children at the hospital and help with the installation of the video game consoles and the downloads of the video games.
“I’m really looking forward to the visit,” he said. “It will be a really nice culmination to the project and something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s great to see it be so successful.”