By purchasing virtual goods, Zynga users have raised over $130,000 to support clean water in Haiti and research for Huntington’s disease. Zynga ran two separate five-day campaigns last month, and encouraged users to purchase limited edition items in Mafia Wars to benefit the Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA) and in Fishville to support Water.org, a non-profit co-founded by Matt Damon for bringing safe water to developing countries.
More than 24,000 Mafia Wars fans purchased a virtual teddy bear to promote global awareness for Huntington’s disease. Users raised more than $100,000 to benefit HDSA’s Coalition for a Cure, a research program comprised of scientists from around the world who have made key discoveries surrounding Huntington’s disease and who are developing therapy treatments. The degenerative genetic disorder affects one in every 10,000 people and strikes both men and women, usually between the ages of 30 to 45.
“The Zynga community’s recognition of the important work of the HDSA Coalition for the Cure and the needs of the HD community, is truly exceptional,” said HDSA chief executive officer Louise Vetter. “Their contribution helps strengthen important research efforts that pave the way for therapies for people with Huntington’s disease, which affects hundreds of thousands worldwide.”
Zynga also recently kicked off a partnership with Water.org to develop safe water projects in Haiti. During World Water Week in late March, thousands of FishVille players bought nearly 70,000 limited edition fish to raise over $13,000 for Water.org. The funds will help bring more than 500 people in Haiti access to safe water. In addition to raising funds, more than 40,000 Zynga players published a Facebook feed during World Water Week to drive awareness for the safe water cause. Over 60,000 FishVille players visited Water.org, ten times greater than the average number of visitors to that site each week.
“Even before the earthquake, the water crisis in Haiti was severe. Like so many other places on our planet, people living in poverty struggle to obtain the basic needs of water and proper sanitation,” said Gary White, co-founder and executive director of Water.org. “The partnership with Zynga will allow us to more quickly scale our efforts to reach the people of Haiti with life-saving safe drinking water projects.”
To date, Zynga players have already raised more than $3 million in connection with Zynga.org social partnerships, the majority of which has been directed for the welfare of women and children in Haiti.
