Animal Crossing: New Horizons Stream Raises Over $150,000 for the Bail Project
Tanya DePass organized an epic Animal Crossing: New Horizons stream that raised over $150,000 for [...]
Tanya DePass organized an epic Animal Crossing: New Horizons stream that raised over $150,000 for the Bail Project. DePass, the founder of the not-for-profit I Need Diverse Games foundation and the executive producer of the Dungeons & Dragons show Rivals of Waterdeep, raised over $150,000 during a 10-hour stream of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While DePass started to stream with a goal of $500, her fundraising picked up major momentum in the afternoon as more members of both the Twitch community and the online tabletop RPG community took notice. Members of Critical Role joined DePass on her island and voice chat, culminating in Matthew Mercer pledging to sing a song from CATS: The Musical while dressed as a cast member of that show if the fundraising passed $150,000.
While DePass's individual stream ended after an epic 10-hour session and over $160,000 raised, her fundraising efforts for the Bail Project is still active on Tiltify as part of the Justice, Peace, Freedom Project. DePass's team has raised over $215,000 as of press time. You can continue to support their efforts here.
The Bail Project is a national nonprofit organization that pays bail for people in need, reuniting families and restoring their presumption of innocence. The Bail Project combats racial and economic disparity in the bail system, which keeps over a half million people in jail before trail simply because they cannot afford bail. At the end of a client's case, bail is returned to the Bail Project, allowing for a rotating fund that can be used continuously. To date, the Bail Project has assisted over 10,000 people across the nation, and it stands ready to provide bail assistance to protestors arrested while speaking out against systemic racism and police brutality in recent days. These protests were sparked by the recent death of George Floyd, who died over Memorial Day weekend when a police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes as Floyd pleaded for help. That police officer was charged with second degree murder after multiple days of protest, and three other police officers present were also charged with manslaughter. The protests have continued as more and more speak out in support of Black lives and Black communities.
Readers can seek out local resources and community members who can provide guidance to helping out in their communities. In addition to the Bail Project, other places to donate can be found below:
Official George Floyd Memorial Fund