What a weekend. Holy cow. $15,000+ raised.

For those that don't know (most of you), I am Nayelie, or just Nay. I am a Heroes of the Storm junkie, and a Twitch Affiliate. But the important thing here is that I am a Texan - specifically a resident of San Antonio (go Spurs!).

My state was devastated by Hurricane Harvey. The amount of friends and family I have that were affected is heartbreaking. I couldn't open my Facebook feed for days after the storm without crying from their pictures, stories, and testimonies.

I felt helpless.

Shortly after the storm, while browsing Twitter, I saw a tweet from someone I had never heard of - Nelstar15 - asking for HotS streamers to do a charity stream for Hurricane Harvey relief with him. I instantly sent him a message. Then what started as a stranger's 5am idea evolved into a mammoth of an event.

The original plan was 12-24 hours with a few streamers, hopefully a couple thousand dollars could be raised. But I was able to help get more streamers on board, and soon we had 72 hours filled with 25 amazing, talented and well beloved personalities from the Heroes and variety communities.

We had people offering game codes, skin codes, and merchandise for prizing. Nelstar set the goal at $10,000, and we got to work. We organized the streamers, the moderators, and everything else we needed. We delegated help when needed. We shared with our team images and articles of those in Southeast Texas. And then before we knew it, we were live.

The 72 hours of the event flew by in a blur. The amount of love and excitement we had was unreal. If you are interested, the VODs are up for each streamer. Nel and I slept very little so we could support each streamer. Now that it is over, I really need to take some time to give thanks to those that made this event a success. I really am more grateful than words allow.

Streamers - First, I need to thank our streamers. You guys were the face of this event. Without you, there obviously would have been no show. Everyone came forward and donated your time and energy to a brand new channel. Thanks for trusting us! Asking people for money is not easy, but each of you did an amazing job at encouraging viewers to skip out on Starbucks, and get some money donated to those in need. I am so grateful to know each of you, and you all blew this out of the park.

Mods - A stream is nothing without its moderator team. Seriously, y’allz the real MVP. From helping us keep chat alive, helping transition streamers, and even staying up late with me and Nelstar to the crazy hours of the morning. You kept our energy hyped, and you really stepped up to make this event as successful as it was.

Viewers - You guys rocked this. You raised the bar and raised over $15,000 for our friends, families, and neighbors that were affected by Harvey. Some of you stuck by for the entire 72 hours. You guys tweeted us, shared us, and kept the hype alive by sticking by our side. You rose up to our donation challenges. Thank you for your encouragement! You guys really exceeded our hopes, and there are no words to thank you enough.

Twitch - A huge thank you to JDubb, Chasejustchase, and Alykkat for being so wonderful to work with on this event. You guys gave us guidance and priceless advice. Above all, you allowed our stream to be on the front page, showcasing the Heroes of the Storm community for all to see. Without your support, I don’t know if we could have reached out as far as we did. Thank you so very much.

Blizzard - Thank you to Blizz first off for creating this game. And thank you for cultivating such a wonderful community. It was so easy to get great people involved, and you guys provided the platform. You guys gave us such great support, and we will continue to love the content you provide.

Prize Donors - A HUGE thank you to everyone who reached out and donated prizes for us! Being able to reward our viewers for their generosity was amazing. The amount of skin codes, game codes, and physical goods donated is amazing. From those in the Blizzard community, to GameStop, to Neil Kaplan, thank you for reaching out to give us something to share with our viewers. A huge thanks as well to HeroesHearth for their sponsorship. Thank you to Tempo Storm for their merchandise. And to those of you who had random coughs and sneezes and random codes appeared, I hope your sickness doesn't heal. Sorry not sorry.

Signal Boosters - Thank you to all of you who shared our cause! Those of you who tweeted and retweeted us, you got our message in front of more people than we could have dreamed to do alone. A huge thank you to the podcasts Lords of the Storm and The Blue Recluse for telling your viewers about us. Thank you to everyone who shared us with their favorite streamers to encourage all the hosts we got.

Nelstar - Last, I need to thank the co-creator of this, Nel. The best friend I never knew. We were strangers, and I now consider you one of my closest friends. We were obviously brought together for a reason. I couldn’t imagine planning something like this with anyone else. Where one of us came up short, the other has been able to take over. I don’t know how we got this planned in just a few short days. I don’t know how we avoided any major hiccups. I don’t know how we managed to raise $15k. We have been so sleep deprived this weekend. We have barely taken time to get food. But look at what we have accomplished. We got donations that are going straight to those that need it. We are getting help to your family. We are getting help to your hometown. As a fellow Texan, I know our pride for our home state runs deeper than most people could imagine. The Lone Star State can’t be held down, and it’s because of people like you and me that we are able to dust our boots off and get to better.

I want to let everyone know that this Twitch channel is not going anywhere. If anything, this event has taught me that the Heroes community is filled with good people. And when good people get together, amazing things happen. There is always going to be friends and family that need help. Whether we know them personally, as we have in Heroes for Harvey, or if they are family we haven’t met, we will always rise up to the challenge to help. Please stay tuned for the future of Heroes for Charity. When there are those in need, we will come together and show that they are not alone.