Each year at the Hope Gala, JDRF presents the Impact Award to individuals or organizations who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to our mission of improving lives today and tomorrow by accelerating life-changing breakthroughs to cure, treat, and prevent type 1 diabetes (T1D) and its complications. This year’s honorees, JDRF Game2Give Leaders & Founders, were selected for their extraordinary commitment to JDRF and the well-being of our community.

The JDRF Northern California Chapter began exploring video game fundraising after Dan Connors, a game industry veteran and T1D dad, set up a donation through the online game store Humble Bundle. Excited by the possibilities, we collaborated with Dan and Hans ten Cate, another T1D dad in the game industry, to help get JDRF Game2Give off the ground.

In 2020, JDRF Game2Give grew into a worldwide initiative and JDRF hired yet another T1D dad and former game industry executive Josh Larson to lead the program. Since then, more and more video game professionals with T1D connections have joined our volunteer group, all with a common goal: to develop creative ways to advance JDRF’s mission, and to have fun doing it.

Today, the JDRF Game2Give community includes hundreds of gamers, streamers, developers, and publishers who have used video games to raise more than $2.5 million for critical research into new treatments and potential cures—and we’ll keep at it until we can say “game over” to T1D!  To learn more visit jdrf.org/gaming.

We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to honor and celebrate JDRF Game2Give Leaders & Founders at the 2023 JDRF Hope Gala which will take place on September 30 at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. Sponsorships and tickets are available now at jdrf.org/norcal/hopegala.