In accordance with Portalarium’s founding purpose to promote goodwill and make a positive difference in the world, we established our Make a Difference store back in May of 2015 to coincide with Rize Up Gaming’s Water.org charity drive. Through that store we donate anywhere between 10-50% of the net proceeds from purchases of items made by our community.
Since that time we have added multiple charities including Autism Awareness, Breast Cancer, Blood Charities, Movember, and more. We have also participated in multiple charitable efforts with our amazing community like the Aerie Fund. This October we added hospital themed items to support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Doctors Without Borders as well as expanded the Make a Difference concept outside the confines of the Make a Difference Store to over 90 items in the Add-On Store.
Through purchases of Make a Difference items by our community we have raised over $40,000 for charity since starting the Make a Difference Store in 2015! Our grand total as of December 7, 2017 is:
** $44,111.79 **
Thank you, Avatars, for being so virtuous!
NOTE: Items go on and off sale during telethons, weekend flash sales, etc. so prices visible on the store are not necessarily the price the item sold for when calculating sales totals.
Water.org $16,761.60
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To date, we have raised $16,761.60 for Water.org, from contributions by our generous backers through purchases of items such as the Ornate Outhouse, Wishing Well, Water Cloak, and /rain emote. Water.org is a nonprofit organization that has transformed hundreds of communities in Africa, South Asia, and Central America by providing access to safe water and sanitation. You can learn more about the projects your donation helps support here.
Breast Cancer Research Foundation: $8,200.44
Starting with an amazingly generous donation by Shooter Jennings of his album, Countach (and related items), we have managed to raise an incredible $8,200.44 for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) through community purchases of items such as the Countach Wax Cylinders, Countach Pink Dye, Countach Album Cover, Countach Phonograph, and the Juggle Pink Lights emote. BCRF is an organization that works to achieve prevention, and a cure for breast cancer in our lifetime, by providing critical funding for innovative clinical and translational research at leading medical centers worldwide, and increasing public awareness about good breast health.
Autism Awareness: $6,886.26
Our generous community has raised $6,886.26 through purchases of items such as the Puzzle Pattern Cloak, Puzzle Tree Cloak, and Puzzle Tree. We split these donations equally between the following two organizations:
The National Autism Association, headquartered in Portsmouth, RI, whose mission statement is “…to respond to the 
most urgent needs of the autism community, providing real help and hope so that all affected can reach their full potential.” The National Autism Association is a parent-run 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Founded in 2003, NAA is a parent-run advocacy organization and the leading voice on urgent issues related to severe autism, regressive autism, autism safety, autism abuse, and crisis prevention.
The National Autistic Society is the leading UK charity for people on the autism spectrum (including Asperger syndrome) and their families. They provide information, support and pioneering services, and campaign for a better world for people with autism.
Blood Charities: $7,117.20
Through the sales of the Lord British and Darkstarr Blood Reliquary Bundles we have raised $7,117.20
for a host of blood related charities, including:
- Shriners Hospitals for Children – Northern California
- Children’s Cancer & Blood Foundation
- Marie Curie – Terminal Illness Support
- We Are Blood (aka The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas)
- Doctors Without Borders
- Cook Children’s Health Care
Movember: $2,950.02 (+ $3,357 of direct fundraising)
Back in 2013 we created a Portalarium Movember team called Moustache of the Avatar and raised $1,680 for charity. Last year we reformed the team as Moustache of the Avatar. This year we came close to matching our original record and raised $1,367 bring our total direct fundraising up to $3,357. Outside of that direct fundraising we created a Movember store and stocked it with several Moustache themed items including very rare follicular reliquaries of hair from Darkstarr and Lord British! Through sales of those Movember items we have raised an amazing $2,950.02 so far.
The Movember Foundation’s mission: “The state of men’s health is in crisis. Men experience worse longer-term health than women and die on average six years earlier. Prostate cancer rates will double in the next 15 years. Testicular cancer rates have already doubled in the last 50. Three quarters of suicides are men. Poor mental health leads to half a million men taking their own life every year. That’s one every minute. Our fathers, partners, brothers and friends are facing this health crisis and it’s not being talked about. We can’t afford to stay silent.”
Leonardo’s Discovery Warehouse: $1,545.75
Purchases of Helen Garriott’s artwork, Exodus, has raised an incredible $1,545.75 for Leonardo’s Discovery Warehouse. Helen (Richard Garriott’s mother) was one of the original investors in Origin. Using funds acquired from that investment, she envisioned and created Leonardo’s Discovery Warehouse in the community of Enid Oklahoma, where she grew up. She believed that inspiring children in art and science was supremely important. Leonardo’s stands as a monument to her vision and the way she lived her life, and is accepting donations in Helen’s memory.
“…I share the hope that through the vehicle of an arts and sciences center (Leonardo’s Discovery Warehouse) we can excite both the excellent student and the struggling or unmotivated student in the adventure of discovery, raise self esteem and turn them on to the fun of a productive life.” – Helen Garriott
Hospitals: $2,196.27
Our most recent expansion of the Make a Difference store was to support two Hospital based charities: Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Doctors Without Borders. To date we have raised $2,196.27 from sales of hospital themed items including a Doctor’s outfit, Nurse’s outfit, Wheelchair, and Hospital Sign. We even came up with our own unique version of the caduceus based on Lord British’s silver serpent. These funds will be split evenly between the two charities:
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals: Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® raises funds and awareness for 170 member hospitals that provide 32 million treatments each year to kids across the U.S. and Canada. Since 1983, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has helped fill 
medical funding gaps by raising more than $5 billion, most of it $1 at a time through Miracle Balloon icon campaigns.
Doctors Without Borders: Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters, and to victims of armed conflict. They do so irrespective of race, religion, creed, or political convictions.
To participate in any of these charities with us, all you have to do is purchase one of the items in our Make a Difference store or purchase an item in the Add On Store that has the virtue symbol on it. We thank you, Avatar, for being virtuous!
Fantastic work by Portalarium and the SOTA community.
Love it!