thedrifter
07-31-08, 06:08 AM
July 31, 2008
Teens collect video games for overseas troops
Phil Bausk
The Journal News
SCARSDALE - Some critics may believe video games have a negative impact on society and are creating problems in America.
Not for these two 16-year-olds.
Peter Gallagher and Jack Wilson, who are going to be juniors at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, started a project called Games For Heroes to collect hand-held video-game systems to send to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We were very interested in helping the soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq," said Wilson, who lives in Scarsdale. "We decided to look and see how we could help, and we had children in different schools send letters to the troops, and we found out that these soldiers requested hand-held video games to pass the time."
Gallagher and Wilson spoke to students at schools around Westchester County and collected donations of money and video games to be sent overseas. With assistance from the Marine Parents of Missouri, an organization that brings the families of Marines together, the boys have raised and sent more than $15,000 worth of games in just four months.
Gallagher, of White Plains, said the servicemen and -women aren't so different from him and Wilson.
"These people are 18 years old, which isn't much older than we are," he said. "They like to do the same things we do with our free time, like playing video games. With these hand-held games, they are very easy to just pick up and play."
"My grandfather was a U.S. soldier, and that was part of the reason why I wanted to help them out," said Wilson. "Peter and I admire what these men and women have to go through every day, and that's another big reason why we felt we needed to make a difference."
The boys have also gotten some corporate help. CAPCOM, Electronic Arts and G-NET have donated video games and hand-held systems for them to send to Iraq and Afghanistan. Portable systems from Nintendo and Playstation are among the items shipped frequently to the men and women fighting overseas. The teens' efforts are garnering appreciation from people in the armed forces.
"From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the rest of the Marines, what you're doing is greatly appreciated," says a quote from Staff Sgt. James S. Lock on their Web site, www.gamesforheroes.com. Lock, 30, from Richmond, Ind., works at the Marine recruiting center in White Plains, as does Staff Sgt. Richard Charlie from Bishop, Calif., who saw duty in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, and in Barwana and Baghdadi, Iraq.
"My platoon really took to these games because it gave them a sense of home," Charlie said. "The support from these two young gentlemen is outstanding, and it is really making a difference."
Ellie
Teens collect video games for overseas troops
Phil Bausk
The Journal News
SCARSDALE - Some critics may believe video games have a negative impact on society and are creating problems in America.
Not for these two 16-year-olds.
Peter Gallagher and Jack Wilson, who are going to be juniors at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, started a project called Games For Heroes to collect hand-held video-game systems to send to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We were very interested in helping the soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq," said Wilson, who lives in Scarsdale. "We decided to look and see how we could help, and we had children in different schools send letters to the troops, and we found out that these soldiers requested hand-held video games to pass the time."
Gallagher and Wilson spoke to students at schools around Westchester County and collected donations of money and video games to be sent overseas. With assistance from the Marine Parents of Missouri, an organization that brings the families of Marines together, the boys have raised and sent more than $15,000 worth of games in just four months.
Gallagher, of White Plains, said the servicemen and -women aren't so different from him and Wilson.
"These people are 18 years old, which isn't much older than we are," he said. "They like to do the same things we do with our free time, like playing video games. With these hand-held games, they are very easy to just pick up and play."
"My grandfather was a U.S. soldier, and that was part of the reason why I wanted to help them out," said Wilson. "Peter and I admire what these men and women have to go through every day, and that's another big reason why we felt we needed to make a difference."
The boys have also gotten some corporate help. CAPCOM, Electronic Arts and G-NET have donated video games and hand-held systems for them to send to Iraq and Afghanistan. Portable systems from Nintendo and Playstation are among the items shipped frequently to the men and women fighting overseas. The teens' efforts are garnering appreciation from people in the armed forces.
"From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the rest of the Marines, what you're doing is greatly appreciated," says a quote from Staff Sgt. James S. Lock on their Web site, www.gamesforheroes.com. Lock, 30, from Richmond, Ind., works at the Marine recruiting center in White Plains, as does Staff Sgt. Richard Charlie from Bishop, Calif., who saw duty in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, and in Barwana and Baghdadi, Iraq.
"My platoon really took to these games because it gave them a sense of home," Charlie said. "The support from these two young gentlemen is outstanding, and it is really making a difference."
Ellie