For sick children, extended periods of time spent in the hospital drain energy and deplete morale. The president and founder of The Get-Well Gamers Foundation aims to make that experience less of a burden.

The Huntington Beach-based foundation ships used video game donations to hospitals around the world. A recent fundraising event sponsored by Santa Ana-based Obsidian Entertainment helped the group raise $2,500.

Those funds will be used mostly for shipping costs, said Ryan Sharpe, founder and president of Get-Well Gamers. The nonprofit delivers games across the U.S. and Canada, and recently expanded to countries including England, Scotland and Iceland.

“It’s been a garage industry so far,” explained Sharpe, who organizes shipments from his home.

Get-Well Gamers started in 2001. The idea of donating used video games and consoles to hospitals came from Sharpe’s personal childhood experience.

“I was sick a lot as a kid myself,” he said. “I had my room at CHOC. It was just so boring.”

It wasn’t until the hospital installed arcade games in the break room that Sharpe could enjoy entertainment other than television. He would spend empty hours playing classics like “Donkey Kong” with his IV stand by his side.

Get-Well Gamers now serves more than 240 hospitals; the foundation also is working with AgeTech West, based in Sacramento, to provide Wii Fit video games to senior centers along the West Coast. The activity and group bonding experiences can help seniors who may be suffering from Parkinson’s or other illnesses. In the meantime, Sharpe looks to continue expansion as well as open an Orange County office by the end of this year.

“We want to eventually be the Red Cross of gamers,” he said.