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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

DeKalb Board Gamers Play All Night For Charity

The Gaming Goat store in DeKalb hosted a 24-hour board gaming marathon for charity this weekend.

Kids and adults brought out old classics, like Stratego and Dungeons and Dragons, along with modern hobby games like Settlers of Catan. One group even livestreamed their gaming sessions.

Organizer George Jaros said this fundraiser is part of Extra Life. It's a yearly campaign that raises money for children’s hospitals. He said proceeds from the DeKalb event are headed to a hospital in Chicago.

“I have a close family friend who’s being treated at Lurie’s Children’s Hospital," he said. "There were some people from my church that were being treated there. So it’s not just going to faceless people in some organization. It’s going to people in our local community that need help.”

Jaros has taken part in the marathon for the past four years. He said the event has only gotten bigger.

“The first year I did it, we raised about $250," he said. "The next year it was right around $500.  Last year, we were just over $890. This year, I’m hoping we will break $2,000."

Some money came from direct donations during the marathon. More came from a weeklong auction of board games from publishers and individual gamers elaning cleaning out their collections. In total, the charity and auction have raised more than $3,100.