At this event, Jim would also be awarding a scholarship. While sometimes they may be given in front of the group during the event, a look around this particular GameChanger Day led Jim to decide that it should be done more privately, off to the side. He talks about these spaces being sacred and says that he doesn't want to disrupt any of the fun the children are having. The scholarship was going to a 21-year-old woman with leukemia. To pick an awardee, GameChanger asks the hospital staff who would be a good candidate. No evaluation or application is done; it's just whoever the staff thinks is deserving.

When the scholarship awardee entered the event with her family, Jim went over and introduced himself. He explained what GameChanger does and how scholarships are decided. He then told her that she was the person the staff thought would be a wonderful candidate, and handed her a check for $2,500, telling her that it could be used however she saw fit -- school, books, living expenses. She started to cry, as did her mother and Jim and nearly everyone else in the vicinity. She said that her mother needed the financial help more than she did, so the check would be going to her mom. Jim then said something to her privately, and that was it. A few more hugs all around and everyone went on their way.

Jim told me later that what he whispered to her was that she should keep the money and he would make sure an additional check would go to her mom. He then asked Blanco to find out how much it would take to get the patient's mom out of a financial hole and said that whatever it was, he would get that amount to her by the end of the day.

Jim cried as he told me this. He cried a number of times as he told me stories about past events, or particular patients, hospital staff that go above and beyond and kids who have been lost along the way. He whispered whenever he mentioned that many of the kids in these types of hospitals are very, very sick, and he said he pays attention to every IV pole a child comes in with, because the more items there are on that pole, the sicker the child is. Jim and Taylor are very passionate about GameChanger. It comes through clearly when they talk about the work -- Jim often doing so through tears, Taylor with incredible poise.

This event had one Twitch streamer in attendance -- Lindsey Vega -- who's done these sorts of events before. Jim told me that three were scheduled to come but two had dropped out because the gravity of the event made them nervous. Before going to play Rocket League with a couple of attendees, Vega told me that in regard to events like GameChanger Days, "It's definitely something that needs to be done and needs to be seen."

During this visit, Jim, Taylor and the rest of the GameChanger team took a look at a room that had originally been built to be a sort of gaming oasis for the kids at the hospital but had fallen out of use and out of supplies over the years. Nadine Ulysse, a child life specialist at the hospital, said that the children really love tech, so it can be disappointing to them when there's not enough to go around. GameChanger is now going to outfit it with a ton of AR and VR tech and will team up with Child's Play to provide a staff member who will make sure it all stays running. Again, they don't want any extra work for the hospital team.

Jim said that working with other charities has been a big part of GameChanger's work. "We've formed a strategic alliance with other like-minded charities, and we just said, 'If we're all giving away millions of dollars a year to these kids, let's do it intelligently so one and one equals three.'" They also work closely with AbleGamers Charity, along with whom they've developed voice control gaming systems for kids who can't play them the traditional way.

After awarding the scholarship, Jim and Taylor slipped out. They had a call scheduled with a group of researchers who are looking into the healing effects AR and VR can have on patients like the ones at this event. With GameChanger-provided tech in 80 US hospitals and 11 countries, Jim and Taylor are kept pretty busy.

The event continued on long after Jim and Taylor had left, with dozens of kids just enjoying the day. As I left, three children were playing Rocket League with someone from GameChanger's team. Their game ended and it was high fives all around.