Superheroes among us

You don't need a cape to be a superhero, but it sure makes it more fun.

When we were finalizing our Extra Life fundraising plans for the year, the owner of the local summer collegiate baseball team here in Medicine Hat surprised us with an idea.

Greg Morrison bought the Medicine Hat Mavericks about a decade ago and one of the things he's done is support the community. When Dominic threw out the first pitch at a Mavs game a few years ago, it was for their Plaid for Dad night. Side note, this year's Plaid for Dad is June 18 - those jerseys were just revealed this week as well and look awesome.

Sticking with our Extra Life themes, Greg told me he wanted to do a Superhero Night July 22, with special jerseys that would be sold off and the proceeds going to the Alberta Children's Hospital through our #Dominicstrong Extra Life team.

What you see here is what the jerseys will look like. Thumbs up and #Dominicstrong on one shoulder, the Extra Life logo on the other. We are thrilled with the support and can't wait for game day. Samantha will definitely be wearing a superhero outfit!

That's the first of our announcements today. We're proud to say there are a few!

Online auction

The #Dominicstrong Facebook group's third annual online auction will take place Sept. 29-Oct. 1. We already have a handful of items donated for it but now's the time to contact us if you or your business would like to be a part of it. We've averaged 120 items and $10,000 raised in this auction, making it the biggest fundraiser of the year for us. Email donations@dominicstrong.com with any questions or to tell us what you'd like to donate.

Mini golf tournament

Amber Dewar, owner of Hooplas Family Entertainment Centre, runs a #Dominicstrong fundraiser right around the anniversary of his cancer diagnosis. For year three, she's upping the ante by not just having a fun day of fun and games but an actual mini golf tournament at Hooplas!
The date this year will be Sunday, Sept. 10. Mark it on your calendar and get practising! We'll have some great prizes for the winners - think of it like your standard charity golf tournament, but one you can bring your kids out to.

Extra Life 25-hour marathon

The biggest date on the calendar is always game day, when we play games for a full day as the main thrust of what Extra Life is. We already announced we'll be at Beveridge Landmark Events' The Cellar from 8 a.m.-8 a.m. Nov. 4-5, but what we didn't tell you are some of the amazing partners we've already found to make it even more incredible than in the past.

Big Eatz Little Feetz

When we had Dom's memorial service at the Esplanade, the company Big Eatz Little Feetz supplied the Kraft Dinner, licorice and all the other comfort foods Dom loved so much. Last year, they made special Mario-themed snacks for game day. This year? How about a full breakfast for our 25-hour gamers and more snack trays for overnight!

VR Junkies

A new virtual reality arcade has opened up in town called VR Junkies. When we checked it out we naturally mentioned Extra Life. The response? They're going to bring in a VR system - again, just for our 25-hour gamers, so you'll have to sign up at extra-life.org, join team #Dominicstrong and start raising money - from midnight until 8 a.m. of the game day.

Skinny's Smokehouse

Don't want to hang out for 25 hours but still want to drop by and support the cause? No problem. How about Skinny's Smokehouse barbecue for dinner? Skinny's - which makes the best barbecued meat I've ever tasted - is donating food for up to 75 people, and we will sell separate vouchers for $10 apiece. So you can show up for dinner, play some games, and boom you've helped out the hospital that so many kids from our city use every year.

There's more. One person is chopping her hair and donating it to a wigs for cancer program and I'll be announcing my own stretch goals soon. Let's just say it'll be an eventful 25 hours.

We are so lucky and privileged to have this level of support. Everyone involved in these efforts, from the businesses to those of you who come out to the events to the gamers who choose to help fundraise, you all have capes in our minds. Please help us spread the word about all of these events as they get closer, and hopefully we can match or beat last year's total of US$23,256.