BBCH Extra Life HERO: Meet Mike!

It’s no secret that I love our Extra Life program at BBCH, but it’s mostly because of the people. Our Extra Lifers are awesome! I’d like to introduce another one of our amazing gaming community members making a big difference for the patients, families, and care teams at The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital (BBCH)! – Meaghan

Meet Mike!
Mike’s pronouns are he/him

You can find Mike on Twitch and Twitter, with his “TrumpetEgo” handle. Mike explains, “Online, I generally go by @TrumpetEgo. I’ve had the username since high school, where being in marching band, the joke in the section was that trumpet players have large egos. So it has stuck with me ever since across social media and gaming platforms.”

So, Mike- what are your favorite games to play?
Recently, whatever is on Xbox Game Pass. It has allowed me to discover a variety of games that I wouldn’t normally pick up otherwise.

I’ve always enjoyed the Halo series, and recently did a play through of the co-op campaigns with some friends. It was a lot of fun.

How long have you been gaming, and how did you find Extra Life?
I have been gaming from a very young age. As a toddler, my Dad would play Super Mario World on SNES. Extra Life started for me as something that I would watch Rooster Teeth do a stream every year, then in 2017 I got involved with the local RT community who did their own stream.

This is my 6th year participating in Extra Life. Most of the years I’ve streamed with a crew, we’ve done both in person, and we did a virtual stream in 2020. Last year scheduling conflicts prevented me from doing a stream on Game Day, so I transitioned to solo streams when I can. This year I hope to do a Game Day stream with my partner, Lauren.

To date I’ve raised $1,038.37 lifetime for Extra Life. (Editor’s note: WOOT! Welcome to the Comma Club, Mike!) My current goal for this year is $250, which is what I raised in 2021. But I’ll be happy with whatever I end up raising at the end of the year.

Do you have any fun incentives or challenges planned for fundraising this year?
I’m toying with the idea of doing a stream that involves donors getting to pick from a provided list of video game music, but it could also include jazz charts, for me to try to play. (Editor’s note: WE. LOVE. THAT. IDEA. Put that trumpet to work, Mike!)

Why do you Extra Life, Mike?
Extra Life allows me to combine my love of gaming with community service. Additionally, I have latched on to the notion that by providing kids with the care they need, Extra Life enables kids to have more birthdays.

We are so glad you’re here on #TeamBBCH, but we’ve got to ask: what made you play for BBCH when you’re in New Hampshire?
As someone who is located in Portsmouth, NH, there are no CMN affiliated Children’s Hospitals in NH. When I first joined Extra Life, it was a coin flip on who to fundraise for. BBCH and Boston are the closest, though my impression was there had to be more gamers repping the latter, so I decided to play for BBCH. The Portland guild is super supportive, and I love hearing updates from Meaghan on how much fundraising BBCH receives in total.

I couldn’t agree more about our Portland, ME Extra Lifers! 🙂 The #TeamBBCH community might be small, but we are mighty- and always willing to cheer each other on and help out! –MM

You can find out more about Extra Life at extra-life.org, or make a donation to Mike’s Extra Life page in support of The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital HERE.