Team Fortress 2 Players Destroy Rare Item for Charity

goldencharity

Child’s Play, started by the Penny-Arcade guys way back in 2003 to not only give toys to sick kids in the hospital but to also dispel the negative image of gamers created by mainstream media, has been a runaway success since its inception, raising over six and a half million dollars in seven years. While every year more and more great fundraisers step up to plate to donate to the foundation, I’ve never seen one that actively encourages item destruction.

For those who are unaware, the last Team Fortress 2 class update came out a short while back with the Engineer as its focus. To celebrate the new content, Valve release 100 golden-colored wrenches to the community to use in game. Now, given the large player base and the rarity of the item, almost all of the lucky 100 have been faced with in-game harassment for simply having good fortune. Well, one user named “WiNG” decided to do something unusual with his wrench. Instead of simply destroying it to be rid of it, he started a fundraiser for Child’s Play, pledging to delete his golden wrench on August 23 and donate all of the proceeds. So far, ten more wrench owners have joined him, and the donations have crested over twenty thousand dollars.

I think this is a really inspiring bit of gaming news, showing that we gamers do have a heart, albeit deep, deep down for some of us. Although the wrenches are worth nothing, and were simply made by Valve to reward a few of their players, WiNG and his ten followers have turned a bit of code into a hefty amount of cash, all with the aim of better the lives of children in the hospital. If you want to check out more on this charity, visit Top Tier Tactics.

Written by

mitch@gamersushi.com Twitter: @mi7ch Gamertag: Lubeius PSN ID: Lubeius SteamID: Mister_L Origin/EA:Lube182 Currently Playing: PUBG, Rainbow 6: Siege, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Total War: Warhammer 2

5 thoughts on “Team Fortress 2 Players Destroy Rare Item for Charity”

  1. I have been watching this charity since it has begun and I would never have thought it would have gotten this big. It has been on news sites all over the internet and even in some gaming magazines. And ever since Valve posted about this on their TF2 blog the donations have been flooding in. I can only hope that more people destroy their wrenches for the cause.

  4. It was about time you guys mentioned this wonderful event.
    As an avid TF2 player, if I had the Golden Wrench, destroying it wouldn’t be the first thing to come to my mind. But i’ve seen some people being absolute jerks to GW owners, and that is just like a curse that follows you.
    I’m glad they’re doing this, and if I had one Golden Wrench, I’d gladly relinquish it for this noble cause.

  5. Great for the kids. Not so great for the people who still have a wrench after this event is over, but most people will likely loathe those people anyway. I missed how they’re making money. Someone’s donating to child’s play for them, I assume.

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