What do you know, it looks like we found ourselves some gamers with heart. And here the mass media would make gamers seem like only, I don't know, something like rampaging lunatics who only want to shoot and kill people. Here we have gamers raising money to help someone who got injured in a drunk driving case, trying to pay for rehab bills. Good jobs kids.

From the article:

Unfortunately, this story begins on a sad note. On April 1, 18-year- old Tiffany Pohl was struck and paralyzed by a drunk driver while walking home from school. She's currently in rehab at a Colorado hospital, suffering a broken neck and spinal cord injuries.

News travels fast in small-town Wisconsin. Before long, the gaming club over at Kaukauna High was getting themselves mobilized. The kids, completely on their own initiative, decided to stage a fundraising benefit in order to help raise some cash for Tiffany's medical bills. Think of it like a bake sale -- only with Smash Bros.

Students were encouraged to purchase "gaming tickets" at 50 cents a pop. With these tickets you bought yourself some head-to-head time against the school's reigning Guitar Hero, DDR or Smash Bros champ, or just a few minutes kickin' back with one of a dozen or so other gaming machines in the gym. Some sweet schwag (such as a pimped-out Wii for the console lovers and a flatscreen monitor + flash drives for PC crew) were also auctioned off in a raffle draw.

Plenty of local retailers contributed prizes and donations to the gamers' event -- you can view a complete list of who ponied up with what here. Kids sold bracelets and other homemade gear -- and even the National Guard showed up at one point for a charity football tossing competition. The whole thing eventually ended up on "Good Day Wisconsin," courtesy of the local Channel 11 News.

Sum total of all contributions raised? Fourteen thousand dollars. The money will be deposited into a fund established for Pohl's care through Unison Credit Union. Jim Geoffrey, a computer teacher who helped the students plan the event, was ecstatic. "People really want to help. This whole school came together. This whole community came together. In a way, it exceeded my expectations."

Read the full article over at 1up.com