Marathon Gamers, a group of friends who started a modest organization to play games for charity, will be launching its Summer Marathon of Friendship to raise money for the group's local St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The group, who resides in Huntsville, Alabama, will kick off a 48-hour marathon gaming session on June 20th on Twitch.

The tentative plan is to play everything from Left 4 Dead to Mario Party and to raise lots of money for St. Jude's. The event will start on June 20th at 2:00PM CDT.

Military-themed video game charity Operation Supply Drop announced several new initiatives for 2014 that are possible because of the strong support it received during its recent 8-Bit Salute fundraiser. The new "Thank You Deployment" initiative was announced, and the goal of it is to send select members of the armed forces on an all-expenses-paid VIP trip to gaming events or tours of game development studios for a rare insider's look at the video game industry.

In addition to announcing the launch of the 1.19 update for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, developer Naughty Dog announced that it has rescheduled its gaming marathon session to benefit Operation Supply Drop’s 8-Bit Salute event. Over the weekend the organizers annual charity drive and gaming marathon was the target of a DDoS attack. This messed up much of the group's fund-raising efforts because its main web site was taken offline several times.

Game-related charity AbleGamers foundation has launched a new initiative that will help bring gamers with disabilities to gaming conferences and other events.

The charity dedicated to advocating for and helping gamers with disabilities, is seeking $200,000 in donations for a new initiative called "Driving Home Accessibility." The goal of the program is to bring equipment and assistive technology experts to gamers in long-term living facilities, VA centers, children's hospitals and other areas that make it difficult to attend events.

Military-focused video game charity Operation Supply Drop will host its annual "8-Bit Salute" charity gaming marathon event this weekend (May 17-18). Donations raised during this year's charity event will fund video game care packages to U.S. military personal deployed in combat zones such as Afghanistan and those recovering in military hospitals.

The latest video for popular YouTube personality TotalBiscuit, (AKA The Cynical Brit, and TotalHalibut - and in real life 29-year-old John Bain) is not game related at all. In an honest and frank moment, the popular YouTube gaming personality talks about cancer.

"If you were hoping to hear about video games..." he says in his video as Surgeon Simulator is played out in the background. "Not today. I think that needed a video of its own, to explain there."

Actress Bailee Madison and Starlight Children's Foundation will launch the first inaugural Play in May campaign next month. The charity event highlights the healing power of play for hospitalized kids while raising funds to support Starlight programs. Starting May 1, individuals and teams can pledge to play games for 15 minutes a day for 15 days and get friends, neighbors, coworkers and family members to sponsor the activity by making a donation.

The documentary Gaming in Color releases today at gamingincolor.vhx.tv. Funded on May 13 of last year by a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $51,158, the documentary explores the LGBTQ influences in the game industry and "gaymers" in gaming culture.

The AbleGamers Charity announced that it raised $33,635.07 for Gamers with Disabilities at PAX East 2014 - the largest fundraising total to date, according to the charity. Pachinko for charity players, donors and corporate matching funds helped the charity hit that number during PAX East in Boston.

Update: The Unwinnable team is hosting a live Telethon right now on Twitch, which you can take part in by visiting www.twitch.tv/teamunwinnable.

Military-focused video game charity Operation Supply Drop today announced the creation of a board of advisors made up of video games industry veterans and former military personnel to support its "rapid expansion and increase the total number of charitable activities it pursues."

The group has also named Glenn “Commander” Banton, Sr. as the Chairman of the Board. He will continue to serve as the group's Chief Marketing Officer.

Military-focused video game charity Operation Supply Drop announced that it will partner with game-focused video streaming service Twitch to raise funds for the third-annual 8-Bit Salute. The 8-Bit Salute event is an annual 24-hour gaming marathon taking place this year from May 17-18. Donations raised during this year's charity event will fund video game care packages to U.S. military personal deployed in combat zones such as Afghanistan and those recovering in military hospitals.

AbleGamers will return to Boston, Massachusetts for the PAX East gaming conference, April 11-13, 2014. The group's annual Pachinko-themed fundraising event gathers support from video game publishers and developers, including EA, Blizzard, Square Enix, PlayStation, and many more, to offer prizes to those who donate to the AbleGamers Charity.

The Fine Young Capitalists is looking for a few good women (or anyone who self identifies as a woman) to take part in its special Women In Video Games Initiative. To take part, would-be applicants are asked to submit a pitch document about a game idea that is right around 1,500 words in length.

The submissions will be judged by the community, with the top five best pitches getting some very professional treatment.

Here's more from the website:

Cancer Research UK's smartphone app Play to Cure: Genes in Space has already seen its players analyze at least six months worth of DNA data for cancer research, the organization announced today. That's pretty impressive when you consider that the app was released on February 4 of this year.

It is with deep regret that we report that Joel Green, the young child who is the inspiration for That Dragon, Cancer, has passed away. This heartbreaking news comes from the That Dragon, Cancer website and an update to Joel's personal website.

Military-focused gaming charity Operation Supply Drop has announced that its third annual fundraising event, the 8-Bit Salute, will take place May 17 - 18, 2014. Funds and donations raised by Operation Supply Drop during the 24-hour gaming marathon will be used to deliver video game to troops in Afghanistan as well as various recovery centers across the country.

A GoFundMe crowd-funding campaign has launched to raise money for games journalist Brandon Boyer, who was left with over $100,000 in medical bills after his insurance company Humana refused to pay them, using a "pre-existing condition" clause in his insurance policy. Keep in mind that Boyer's surgery, which saw part of his small intestine and liver removed, happened before the Affordable Care Act went into effect.

AbleGamers Charity Founder and Executive Director, Mark Barlet, will deliver a keynote at SXSW this month. Bartlet's speech will be delivered at the SXSW Long Center March 8, 2014 from 12:30 – 1:30. All SXSW participants are welcome and the talk itself is open to the public. AbleGamers encourages all developers and gamers to attend. A brief Q & A will be held after the event.

The second annual Different Games Conference will take place Friday, April 11th - Saturday, April 12th, 2014 at NYU’s newly opened MAGNET (Media and Games Network) Center in downtown Brooklyn, organizers announced today. Organizers of the event describe it as "NYC’s first conference dedicated to addressing issues of diversity and inclusivity in games through the lenses of design and criticism." The event is a volunteer-run collaboration between New York University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Jennifer Ann's Group announced the start of its 2014 video game competition to raise awareness about and (hopefully) prevent teen dating violence. The seventh annual Life.Love. Game Design Challenge urges game developers and individuals to design a game that raises awareness on the very real issue of teen dating violence. The group was founded in 2008 by Drew Crecente, who lost his daughter Jennifer Anne in 2006. Jennifer Ann Crecente was a high school honors student that was murdered by an ex-boyfriend on February 15, 2006.

Get-Well Gamers Foundation, a charity dedicated to providing games to children in health care facilities, today announced that it has expanded to the United Kingdom with the addition of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, as its 200th member facility.

The winners of the National Coalition Against Censorship's ninth annual Youth Free Expression Project Film Contest have been chosen Winners will be flown into New York City for a screening event and an awards ceremony at the New York Film Academy on March 29. This year's theme, "Video Games in the Crosshairs," is of particular interest to those who love games because it asked contestants to make a video dealing with such issues as gaming, violence, virtual reality, and censorship.

Through a combination of attendee entry fees, donations it received on-site, Peggle 2 entries, PayPal donations and excess sponsorship, Gamers Outreach announced that it managed to raise a total of $20,682.37 for game-related charities at its annual event - Gamers for Giving 2014 - that took place this weekend. According to statistics the group shared, it raised $12,970.00 from online registration and donations; $5,510.00 from raffle ticket sales, Peggle, door sales, and on-site donations; and $2,202.37 from stream donations, mail-in donations, and excess sponsorships.

The National Coalition Against Censorship let us know that the Youth Free Expression Film Contest 2013 Semifinalists are now online, featuring the work of teen filmmakers that explore video games, gamer culture, and censorship. Judges will select the top three winners on February 25.

YouTube viewers can also participate by "liking" their favorite video, with the "most liked" video being honored with a People's Choice Award.

The third annual Hyrule Hustlers: Zelda Marathon fundraiser for Child’s Play Charity kicks off on Friday, February 14 in Ottawa, Ontario. The multi-day charity event will be broadcast live on Twitch.tv over several days as organizers play through as many Legend of Zelda games as they can and solicit donations from the community at large and viewers via www.hyrulehustlers.com. As the donations increase, the length of the marathon session increases with it.

Fans of Sid Meier's vast body of work over the years will likely be delighted that the latest Humble Bundle features a number of his most popular games. The Humble Sid Meier Bundle offers Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete, Sid Meier's Civilization IV: The Complete Edition, Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol, Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies, and Sid Meier's Railroads! for whatever price you want.

The annual event for the Gamers for Giving gaming competition kicks off this upcoming weekend at the at Eastern Michigan University's Student Center on February 8th & 9th.

The charity drive and competition event put together by Gamers Outreach Foundation will feature Call of Duty Ghosts, Killer Instinct, Halo 4, competitions, and more. Twitch is also partnering with Gamers Outreach to stream the competitions, and a Peggle 2 Championship will be hosted by Michael "StrongSide" Cavanaugh and some of the best Peggle 2 players in the country.

MomoCon, an annual Atlanta-based event dedicated to anime, animation, and video games is planning something special for its 10th year in operation: letting the community attend a free and publicly-accessible career fair. The career fair will take place Thursday, May 22nd, at the Hilton Atlanta from 12PM until 5PM EST, ahead of the official MomoCon 2014 event Friday, May 23rd until Sunday, May 25th.

After playing an educational video game for just 15 minutes children understood what do if someone was having a stroke, according to new research reported in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. Researchers tested 210 9- and 10-year-old "low-income children" from the Bronx, New York, on whether they could identify a stroke and knew to call 9-1-1 if they saw someone having one. Researchers then tested the children again after they played a stroke education video game called Stroke Hero.