You've Probably Seen This Photo On Facebook. Here's Why it Went Viral.

The news: Video gamers in Portland, Oregon raised 37,500 pounds of food in 48 hours to donate to the homeless and needy.

The gamers from PDXLAN host “LAN” parties three times a year, which bring around 400-500 gamers each time. When they realized how successful their parties could be, PDXLAN decided to put them to good use.

“PDXLAN decided years ago to leverage their influence in the gaming world to do good in the world,” the group writes on their website. So seven years ago, they began their annual food drive, and it’s been quite successful: “We continue to break our own records each year because we are in competition with ourselves to do more good each year.” 

Why this matters: For all the bad publicity video games receive throughout the year, warranted or not, it’s a refreshing change of pace to see a story like this, where video games are put to good use. 

And it’s nice to see people take notice. Local news station KGW in Portland interviewed Matt Conwell of PDXLAN about the group’s donation to the Union Gospel Mission in Portland, which he said was “heartwarming to see that we made a meaningful impact.” 

Thanks to Reddit, PDXLAN’s efforts went viral just a few days before Thanksgiving. Though the Reddit post says people “didn’t seem to care,” at least one local news station did – and that’s not to mention the individuals that will have something to eat this holiday thanks to the 37,000 pounds of food raised.  

This meme has since been taking off on Facebook: