Month: July 2018

FOCUSAID Partners with Loot Crate: Gamers Outreach

Press Release Jul. 23, 2018 at 2:30 pm

LOS ANGELES — FOCUSAID, a product of LIFEAID Beverage Co. is joining forces with Loot Crate, collectible subscription box behemoth, for the charity Gamers Outreach for an 8-hour fundraising stream on July 28th, 12pm PST through 8pm PST, accessible at twitch.tv/lootcrate.

Founded in 2007, Gamer’s Outreach provides equipment, technology and software to help children cope with treatment inside hospitals. Proceeds raised through the live stream will pay for “GO Karts” (Gamers Outreach Karts) – portable, medical-grade gaming kiosks nurses use to transport video games and entertainment to children who are unable to leave their rooms within the hospital. Gamer’s Outreach will equip hospitals and care centers with these specially designed gaming stations to minimize trauma and increase joy for these young patients.

Presented and powered by FOCUSAID, the clean and natural nootropic blend by LIFEAID Beverage Co., the Loot Crate gaming community will participate in a day-long stream full of fun gaming challenges and contests all while helping to raise funds and awareness for Gamer’s Outreach.

The stream will be filled with donation perks, incredible stream goals and challenges, fantastic giveaways from FOCUSAID, LIFEAID, and Loot Crate, with mega prize packs unlocked throughout the day.

On stream, hosts will include…

• Loot Crate’s own Mikey Petralia and Josh Ball (lootcrate.com)

• Actress Naomi Kyle (insta @thenaomikyle)

• Hyper RPG (twitch.tv/hyperrpg) studio head, Zac Eubank

• Streamer DI3SEL (twitch.tv/di3sel)

• Gamer & Model Mandie Roman (insta @GeekyGlamorous)

• ABC’s Once Upon a Time actor, Jared Gilmore (insta @therealjaredgilmore)

• Many more surprise guests!

“Loot Crate is happy to support such a worthy cause as we believe that the heroes of our fandoms can inspire heroic moments in our own lives. Hopefully we can inspire the audience of this live stream to be the heroes these patients need to get better,” said Matthew Arevalo, co-founder of Loot Crate. From retro games to the latest squad gatherings, the stream will surely provide entertainment while raising donations. LIFEAID CMO, Emily Sommariva explains, “We all need play to thrive. When the idea formed with Loot Crate to support Gamer’s Outreach’s efforts to bring joy to this special group of kids across the country, we said ‘Game On’!”

About LIFEAID Beverage Co.

LIFEAID is The Functional Beverage Company, and creator of of premium, healthy and convenient nutritional products for different active lifestyles. Products are currently sold in over 12,000 domestic outlets and over 22 countries, having twice now placed on Inc. 500’s Fastest Growing Companies. Learn more at LIFEAIDbevco.com.

About Loot Crate

Founded in 2012, Loot Crate™ is a leading subscription commerce platform targeting super fans of entertainment franchises. Loot Crate partners with major studios, game companies, comics publishers, professional sports leagues and personalities in the shared curation of premium and exclusive consumer products in themed mystery boxes, delivered directly to subscribers’ doorsteps. Loot Crate was ranked #1 fastest-growing private company by Inc. magazine’s Inc. 5000 as well as #1 on Deloitte’s Fast 500 list for 2016. For more information and to sign up for a Loot Crate subscription, please visit www.lootcrate.com.

About Gamer’s Outreach

Gamers Outreach is a 501(c)(3) charity organization that provides recreation to children in hospitals through the power of video games and the gaming community. Hospitalization can often be a lonely, isolating, and scary experience for young people. Gamers Outreach eases those burdens by providing equipment, technology, and software that help kids cope with long-term treatment. More information can be found at www.GamersOutreach.org.

SOURCE: https://www.bevnet.com/news/2018/focusaid-partners-loot-crate-gamers-outreach

CrossFit Trainer Lost His Left Arm at 13— And Can Deadlift 500 Pounds

Article by Emily Abbate of MEN’S HEALTH on July 9, 2018

You don’t need to have both arms to live an outstanding life, and Logan Aldridge almost prefers it this way now.

“I love being different,” says the 27-year-old. “I love being the guy with one arm.”

Life changed forever for Aldridge at age 13 after a day wakeboarding on Lake Gaston on the North Carolina-Virginia border. Helping his dad on the family boat, the duo was pushing off from a friend’s dock and heading back home when a rope he was coiling got tangled in the propeller. Within an instant, it severed through the skin and arteries in his left arm, right up to the bone. Blood was everywhere, he recalled. His Dad, springing into action, created a tourniquet of sorts that kept him from bleeding out until the emergency teams arrived. In the ambulance, Aldridge’s mother said something that would shape his perspective for years to come.

“I remember laying there and looking at my arm, looking at everyone around me, and asking my mom what if I lose my arm from this?” he told MensHealth.com. “Without skipping a beat, she said, ‘Logan, it’s just an arm.’ Some people think that’s a brutal parental response, but that was the most important thing to hear. It instilled the perception in me that at the end of the day, I’d still have my life. Whatever happens, we’re going to make it through this.”

image
.
Logan’s mom gave him the tough-love advice that inspired him to face his new reality head-on: “without skipping a beat, she said, ‘Logan, it’s just an arm.'”
.
Standing in the hospital bathroom, tears streamed down his face seeing the shape of his new body in the mirror. But that was the last time that the Raleigh native would grieve his loss, something wise beyond his years at such a young age.

“I knew I had to move forward,” he says. “I immediately went into problem-solving mode, started to learn how to write with my right hand, make the best of a less-than-ideal situation, and embrace my situation.”

Today, Aldridge is an accomplished para-athlete and has fully embraced life with a handicap. As someone who is “in pursuit of more potential and maximizing [my] output,” he craves comfort that allows him to push his personal and physical boundaries. To that end, he turns to the reliable ease and durability of cotton in and out of his WODs. “I’m training all the time and like to be comfortable.”

Similarly, his go-to sweaty habit, CrossFit, continually pushes him to be better and prepares him for his other active passions, from mountain biking to Spartan Racing. “We learn so much about ourselves when we are challenged,” he says. “When I’m breathless and working hard and in an uncomfortable state, that’s when I grow.” Pressing on with determination and grit has led Aldridge to set some impressive weight-lifting PRs—like deadlifting 500 lbs and doing 245-lb. cleans.

“We learn so much about ourselves when we are challenged.”

When he’s not traveling for his full-time job as a sales manager or teaching CrossFit, Aldridge is speaking to large groups about the lessons he’s learned (and also: training to one day compete in the Paralympics).

“My life’s purpose now is to motivate others,” he says. “We hear inspiration a lot, especially in the case of active amputees. Inspiring is cool—and I’m grateful to do that—but motivation is different that inspiring. You can be inspired sitting on the coach, but when you’re motivated—you’re ready to take action and still change. Something has happened that’s made you ready to move. And I say hey, let’s move together.”

 is a freelance writer, certified fitness trainer, and host of the podcast Hurdle. You can find her work in GQ, Shape, Runner’s World, and other health and fitness publications.

> > > Live well.