#EileenStrong - 2018, 2019, and Beyond
In the fall of 2017, I had a crazy idea.
Twitch has been a continuously powerful force in organizing communities for charity. Time and time again, I was drawn to the goal-smashing streams that casters host and collaborate with organizations throughout the year. It is truly the epitome of the internet using forces of good to spread kindness, generosity, and support to the corners of the world.
The most important part of finding a charity that you want to support is the connection you feel to the mission they stand for and support. It just so happened I had a connection that could make me feel driven to work hard for a cause. My Aunt Eileen suffered a terrible fall a few years ago rendering her wheelchair-bound as a quadriplegic. The only thing more jarring than the sudden shift in lifestyle and adapting to a new way of living was the staggering medical costs that were piling up.
Seeking progress, my aunt and her family turned to many varying forms of surgery, treatment, and rehabilitation. Through various procedures and sessions, she has made unimaginably amazing and impressive progress! She is able to use her arms, stand, and walk with assistance, and each day she works to gain even a sliver of more independence than the day before. Her determined and cheerful disposition continues to inspire everyone around her, knowing that she can do anything she sets her mind to.
Unfortunately, not all of these procedures and therapies are covered by insurance and once a cap is met - it is all out-of-pocket costs anyway. The family turned to Hope Help Live - an organization known for supporting individuals and families with unmet medical and related expenses due to injuries, illness, and life-saving procedures like transplants. The organization has supported this cause for decades, encouraging and providing guidance on how to fundraise and offering support to applicants’ causes.
And thus, Eileen Strong was born! Every year, our extended family helps with a Golf Outing and Auction to help raise money for her rehabilitation efforts. And for the 2018 event, I wanted to do something big.
I approached my mod team and asked for ideas.
We brainstormed and planned, took notes on stream incentives we liked, and put our own unique spin on things to make a branded and unique experience. It was decided to use the money made on Twitch (bits & subscriptions) and through direct donations. We would even go so far as to provide weekly giveaways as well as milestone incentives for each big round number. And so - our own #EileenStrong event was created - built for Twitch and even a promotional video was made to help explain who my Aunt was, why this was important, and the charity event itself.
After 5 months - we raised an astonishing $5,225.01 for my first-ever focused charity event. I was completely and utterly floored by the generosity of the community- and of Twitch as a whole. Considering the success of the first one, I definitely wanted to start planning for next year and make everything grow. My desire to make things even bigger and better in 2019 were supported by, again, my amazing mod team and close friends.
By the way, we had a great stream as a group sharing pictures of us through all stages of growing up. You can see the whole stream of shenanigans here.
January 2019 came around.
The channel grew up. The community was bigger and more diverse. I made more connections and friends on the platform. I was excited to see what all our hard work could generate this year.
And to my humble surprise - the organization helping my aunt reached out and even wanted to help our endeavors! The team over at Help Hope Live was incredible getting things off the ground to have a campaign hosted via Tiltify. With a new setup of how to gather donations and also have a platform hosting the charity effort, I felt even more confident to market the campaign, smash goals, and even branch outside of Twitch for gathering donations.
Explaining Twitch to non-users was fun! It is still a foreign concept for the most part for people not ingrained in these communities. Strangers? Sending money? To other strangers, they don’t really know? Supporting charity efforts? It is pretty crazy when you look at it objectively, but the results did most of the talking. With each passing week, I was sending texts to my family, each with an increase in the total donation amount. By April 2019, we were at 3/4 of the money raised for the entire 2018 campaign. I was stunned! Floored! Bamboozled that anyone still would support this effort and especially at the growing number associated with it.
Our initial goal of $5,000 was surpassed in May 2019. $6,000 the next month. And with one day to go in the campaign - we raised over $3,000 in one day - making our grand total for the entire campaign $9,518.30. (There was a sneaky $5.00 donation made at a later date than the tweet.)
We had really fun incentives and giveaways - some of these we are still getting through. 2019 brought some exciting new types of streams including super engaged spoopy streams, and art streams, and we brought back retro games (GameCube + N64)!
Thankful doesn’t even begin to describe this experience.
It still hasn’t hit me. It has been months, the money was properly donated and passed over to HHL. I announced it to my aunt at her 2019 Golf Outing, got a big hug, and went on my way to finish up incentives from the campaign. The summer has been a welcomed change of pace - I went down to two streams a week to keep more flexible hours and meet my busy summer obligations. I took a break for 2 weeks and have been already planning next year in my Passion Planner.
It has been an amazing ride over the past two years, and I still stumble to find the best, coherent, and fitting words to describe my gratitude. And I don’t think I will ever fully be able to express the absolute love I have for everyone involved - ImStillJohnny’s insane work ethic in keeping this ship running and assisting with so many individual tasks and ideas every week, Tippy’s ability to being an amazing and supportive sounding board, ModernChow’s donated art to the channel and the campaign, JStew’s thoughtful random text check-ins and reassuring voice throughout each week, the Yebbanned Crew’s insatiable generosity, my network of friends and streamers through Twitch that continues to inspire me every day, and for my family and boyfriend who support me to do this crazy passion project.
From every corner of my absolutely grateful heart, please know that I am humbled and courteous for any ounce of support and time you have given to these adventures. You are what helps keep this stream alive, focused, and fun. Thank you.
So What’s Next?
2020 is going to be powered by an internal expectation that I need to be bigger and better than the year before. It has been known across the interwebs that I hold myself to high standards. Sometimes unreasonably high and far exceeding almost everyone else’s expectations. The pressure I put on myself has been known to burn me before, but with charity - it just feels like a different voice narrating my experiences. It’s natural. It makes sense. I know why I am doing things and what we are doing. It is tangible. It is something I can write down and make goddamn happen!
There are a hundred good reasons to lend your energy and time to a cause.
There are a thousand good reasons to spend your time doing things for other people.
But there are very specific reasons to push yourself to put on the best campaign you can.
The feeling of accomplishment you encounter is worth all the hours of planning, worrying, strategizing, anxiety-filled nights, and endless marketing. Every penny you spend on incentives is to create memories and those inside joke moments for years to come. Each time you hit the live button thinking no one is going to care about what you do or why, only to be reassured that your dreams are valid, worth pursuing and supported by friends and your community.
To look back and think, “Hot damn, we really did that.”
So when 2020 comes around, if I raise $1 or $10,000 - that is the feeling that reassures me that I am doing something right, something good, and something I am meant to do.
And I cannot wait.
