A couple of weeks ago, after a long Monday of classes, I settled down to start my homework. I had Twitch political streamer Hasan Piker on in the background to listen about the events of the day. Several hours into the broadcast, I witnessed an extraordinary event as Piker announced he teamed up with Care’s Ukraine Crisis Fund and a donation of 10 dollars for every fail playing Elden Ring.
Before Piker even started to play the game, his Twitch community donated $45,000 and passed the $100,000 threshold within about nineteen minutes. It was an emotionally moving moment seeing human kindness overflowing. Those unfamiliar with Twitch Chat can be quite toxic, but this was an outpouring of love and compassion. What a small world we live in these days because of the internet as people worldwide who will most likely never meet in person are joined in a community helping people thousands of miles away in a time of crisis.
Piker and his community continue to raise funds as he plays Elden Ring, with the latest total of over $213,000. Whatever their background–politically, gamer frog, or lurker in chat–Piker’s community shines as a beacon of hope amongst the worst ugliness of this world. Acts of human kindness like this make you take a step back; ponder what if the outpouring of love and compassion was an everyday occurrence, not just in times of crisis? Imagine the world in which we would live. So, with that said, peace and love to all in the NVU community.