West Hartford resident Jack Zeligson and his teammates on the ‘Ardent Gamers’ are hosting a 24-hour video game marathon beginning Friday, Jan. 16, 2015, to raise funds for the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

The ‘Ardent Gamers’ include (L-R): Jack Zeligson, Chris Carangelo, Ricky Ferris, Evan Kelmar, Julian Lombardi, and Bobby McCabe. Submitted photo

By Ronni Newton

After many years watching and helping his mother with her major fundraiser for Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, West Hartford resident Jack Zeligson is striking out on his own, turning an activity he and his friends enjoy into a way of raising money to support the area’s non-profit children’s hospital.

Jack’s mother, Lauren Zeligson, is the owner of Labrazel Home in West Hartford Center, and for the past nine years she has spearheaded the West Hartford Center Business Association KidsCard fundraiser, which benefits Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

Jack has helped his mother behind the scenes, and when he was in middle school he held book drives for the hospital, but he wanted to do more.

“This year, I was delighted to find out about ‘Extra Life,’ and that I could participate and raise money for CCMC. I have always enjoyed video games and playing them with my friends, so this event seemed like the perfect way to combine my interests of playing video games and helping the sick kids at CCMC,” said Jack, a 16-year-old junior at Kingswood Oxford School.

‘Extra Life,’ Jack explained, is a program in which people all over the world play video games for 24 hours in order to raise money for their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. The organization formed in 2008, and holds a nationwide video game marathon fundraiser every November, but participants are also able to hold an event during a 24-hour period of their choice.

Jack decided it made sense to keep the event “local and smaller scale” for the first year, and put together a team of six. They will hold the video game marathon at his house, and participate together for the 24-hour period.

Jack’s team, Ardent Gamers, has a goal of $2,500. Jack’s personal goal is $1,500, and he has raised $1,340 to date.

“I’m very proud of Jack for organizing and spearheading this team,” Lauren Zeligson said. “It’s wonderful to see how passionate he is about raising funds for Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.”

“I think fundraising is in his nature. He cares a lot,” Lauren said.

“I hope to make this an annual event, with the number of participants and the amount of money raised increasing each year,” said Jack. “Eventually, I would like to host a very large scale event, in which I can get a large space and open it to the public, so anybody who wants to come and play for charity can. I also plan to invite some friends who do not live in the area to join online and have their own Extra Life meetups to help my team,” he said.

Ardent Gamers will begin its 24-hour Extra Life fundraiser at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 16, and the event will end at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17. For more information about Extra Life, or to make a donation, click here for Jack Zeligson’s fundraising page.

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