By: Emma Eisenberg May 19, 2016
What if you could greet a new neighbor, check in on a friend, pet your dog, note what you’re grateful for, write down your dreams, say a prayer for a sick family member, redecorate your house and recycle—all while sitting at your desk? Oh, and what if by doing all of that, you also are contributing to charity—and scoring points?
You could—if you played A Better World, a Facebook game started by Wayne entrepreneurs, MarySue, Ray and Gregory Hansell. The game, played by 4 million people in 100 countries, is a twist on two phenomena—gaming and social media. In A Better World, players advance through doing good and helping others, either through expressing gratitude and doing virtual good deeds or through recording good deeds they’ve done in real life.
When the gaming community has earned enough virtual points, the Hansells reward the actual world with a donation to charity. So far, the family has given over $50,000 to over 20 charitable organizations, both international and local.