Xekos Elf Island and Nationwide Childrens Hospital Focus on Hospitalized Kids Who Need a Boost in Fun

Xeko’s Elf Island (www.xeko.com), the award-winning kids’ entertainment brand specifically created to instill positive social and environmental values into the world’s future stewards while empowering kids to make a difference, is extending its “doing good” commitment through a partnership with Nationwide Children’s Hospital, one of the nation’s largest free-standing children’s hospitals.

Founded on the premise of creating and marketing world-class products and media that entertain and inspire kids to do Good, Xeko has created a new category in the virtual world space, called Gaming For Good.™ Working directly with non-profit partners, like Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Xeko identifies projects that kids are passionate about – in this case, kids helping to provide computers to hospitalized kids - and then mirrors an online GoodQuest™ game to bring the project to life.

Kids are introduced to each month’s GoodQuest by watching a video. This video shares someone’s story – in this case, Gabriella, a patient at Nationwide Children’s – and lets kids know that by Gaming for Good and meeting a collective goal, they are causing good to happen in the real world, including providing computers for patients like Gabriella.

“Nationwide Children’s Hospital is honored to be a beneficiary of Xeko’s Gaming For Good,” said Jon Fitzgerald, President, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation. “This special holiday GoodQuest and the resulting donation of computers will bring happiness to our patients like Gabriella and so many other children in our care.  We commend Xeko’s efforts to engage youth everywhere in good works and helping others.”

This specially designed GoodQuest game is available now through January 3, 2010. During this time, kids are encouraged to repeat their visit and play the GoodQuest to achieve the game objective, meet the collective goal and cause the donation to happen for Nationwide Children’s.

This month, PJKi, a Columbus, Ohio marketing and digital media agency, is donating eight computers once the collective goal is met to Nationwide Children’s.

“With Nationwide Children’s Hospital in my own backyard, it’s extremely important for me to support this great hospital and show kids that they have the ability to give these young patients an opportunity to have fun and interact with other kids,” said Paul Kronenberger, President, PJKi.

Kids of all ages are welcome to play, do basic customizations of their elf or living space and safely chat with other elves. To help Nationwide Children’s and get access to the many advanced features, users will need to upgrade to a membership with a subscription fee of approximately $10 (USD). This special pricing gives kids member access for three months. For each membership purchase, Xeko will gift a membership to a patient at Nationwide Children’s. Ten percent of all subscriptions go back to Nationwide Children’s.

For the cost of a movie ticket, kids can help put computers in Nationwide Children’s for patients and help real people, real animals and our Earth. Priceless: Kids enjoy gaming that is fun and helping people at the same time.

People can also gift a Xeko membership to a patient at Nationwide Children's, and the cost is 100 percent tax deductible. If you would like to gift a membership to a hospitalized child, visit www.nationwidechildrens.org/elfisland.

How kids have helped others through Mirrored Gaming:
• Built eight homes for eight families in Honduras
• Repaired six boats to protect sharks and other wildlife from poachers
• Planted 2,000 trees in Niger
• Helped scientists track polar bear migration in the Arctic
• Fed 100 under served families healthy produce in Sacramento
• Adopted a panda from an earthquake-affected area in China
• Built one camp in Uganda for kids living with HIV 

About Xeko The Secret of Elf Island
Xeko, rated “G” for “Good,” is the award-winning kids’ entertainment brand specifically created to instill positive social and environmental values into the world’s future stewards while empowering kids to make a difference today. At the heart of Xeko is a virtual world that turns online gaming efforts into real-world results through non-profit partnerships and Mirrored Gaming™. An eco-adventure trading card game and line of Earth-friendly toys provide positive play and connect players online. To further its mission, Xeko invented Gaming for Good™, Mirrored Gaming, and GoodQuests™ and in December 2009, Xeko and Elf Island combined their forces for Good to create world-class products and media that entertain and inspire the kid in everyone to make a difference (www.xeko.com).

About PJKi
PJKi (www.pjki.com) is a strategically focused marketing, media and technology firm headquartered in Columbus, OH. PJKi has worked with many of the top Fortune 500 clients including SPX Corporation, SCANA Corporation and HomeBanc Mortgage, as well as with The Home Depot, Get Married and other notable companies in developing and executing eBusiness strategies.