Fallen Leukemia Victim Has Video Game Marathon Held to Raise Money for Ronald McDonald House Charity
Nick Capobianco lost his battle with leukemia in 2008, and in honor of his memory a special 48 hour video game marathon will be held to raise money to purchase the newest video game consoles for children staying at the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island.
Named, Nick's Marathon, it has been an annual event thrown by his friends the last few years because of his love and passion for playing video games.
It begins next Friday at 8 p.m., where his friends will meet to play for 48 consecutive hours with it being live streamed at http://www.nicksmarathon.org/. From that stream, people can donate towards the ultimate goal of raising at least $5,000. $1,346 has already been raised.
"Nick's favorite things in life were playing video games and hanging out with his friends," said childhood friend Alan Noah, 34 to Newsday. "To do it for charity, it all seemed perfect. I always said that if he were still alive and we did this marathon it would be his favorite weekend of the year and as soon as one ended he would be looking forward to the next one."
Capobianco passed away on June 12, 2008, and it was Noah who helped start the marathon. They have raised $10,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society since beginning the fundraiser. After the money is raised, the money will be used to purchase a PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PS Vita, and a 3DS to be delivered on December 12 by Santa Claus at the "Lights of Love" Ronald McDonald House Christmas party.
"I know he'll be watching us and enjoying it with us," said Noah. "He's probably embarrassed by how terrible we are at playing. Nick was amazing at video games. He'd beat the hardest level in two seconds."