Village Gamer

Kelowna, BC – Club Penguin is encouraging its players to embrace the spirit of giving this holiday season with a unique online giving opportunity that allows children to donate the virtual coins they accumulate playing games in the popular virtual world to real world causes that matter to them.

The second annual Coins for Change campaign runs from December 12, 2008 through December 22, 2008. During that 10-day period, the kids who play Club Penguin can choose to donate their virtual coins to one of three causes dedicated to helping children. At the end of the campaign, the donations will serve as votes which will help the New Horizon Foundation, an organization started by the founders of Club Penguin, determine what portion of a $1 million donation will go to charities selected by the Foundation to represent those causes.

“Our hope is that Coins for Change helps children in the Club Penguin community understand there is more to life than just earning coins, and encourages them to make a difference in the lives of kids throughout the world,” says Lane Merrifield. “Last year more than 2.5 million players donated in excess of two billion virtual coins. They’ve been asking us for another opportunity to give ever since and we can’t wait to see the results!”

In last year’s Coins for Change campaign, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation received $394,000, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) received $330,000 and $276,000 went to Free The Children.

“It takes a lot of time and effort to accumulate coins playing Club Penguin and the fact that our players are so eager to put those coins toward helping other kids around the world says a lot about their desire to make a difference and their understanding of what it truly means to be part of a community,” says Merrifield.

Results from Coins for Change 2008 will be announced on December 25th.

Club Penguin is a snow-covered virtual world where children can play games and hang out with friends. It has developed a reputation as a trusted provider of safe family fun due to its rich, imaginative play environment, aggressive filtering and live moderators who monitor chat and activity on the site and work to prevent the sharing of inappropriate or personally identifiable information.

Club Penguin contains no third-party advertising and is free to use and enjoy, although a subscription membership provides access to additional features that enhance the play experience. A parent’s e-mail address is required to create a penguin, and parental permission is required in order to activate an account and allow play within the virtual world. Parents can also create their own account which allows them to log on and view their child’s account history, change their child’s password, choose a different chat mode and set the time of day and duration of their child’s visits to Club Penguin.