Orlando Magic in the Community: Magic Gaming raises nearly $10,000 for Second Harvest Food Bank

Mohamed Bamba picked up the sticks to join Magic Gaming's live stream to raise money for Second Harvest Food Bank. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Mohamed Bamba picked up the sticks to join Magic Gaming's live stream to raise money for Second Harvest Food Bank. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Magic Gaming joined the Orlando Magic to do their part, hosting a live streaming event Wednesday that raised money for Second Harvest Foood Bank.

Everyone is looking to fill the basketball-sized hole in their hearts during the height of the coronavirus pandemic going on around the world. Many people in the United States, including here in Orange County, are under stay-home orders that prevent any large gatherings and have essentially shut down society at large.

The NBA is doing its best to fill in the gap. They have their player NBA 2K tournament continuing Thursday night. And now the league is taping and sending out official NBA 2K simulations to the teams to air on their regional sports networks.

You can catch Orlando Magic NBA 2K simulations of the rest of their schedule at 6:30 p.m. on the nights those games were supposed to play — the next one is the Orlando Magic’s game against the Boston Celtics on Friday night before a replay of Aaron Gordon‘s triple-double against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 8 p.m.

Everyone is trying to make the best of the situation while they are stuck at home. Players are as bored as anybody else.

But as we have noted here throughout this last month, players are doing some very good things for their community.

The latest came Wednesday when Magic Gaming hosted an all-day streaming event on their Twitch channels featuring Magic Gaming players, Bo Outlaw, Mohamed Bamba and social influencers playing games and hanging out to raise money for Second Harvest Food Bank in Orlando.

https://twitter.com/TheRealMoBamba/status/1247925198734725127

Watch Charity Stream #HelpFromHome from OrlandoMagicGaming on www.twitch.tv

The all-day event raised nearly $10,000 for the local food pantry, according to the Orlando Magic.

Pretty good for a day playing video games and chatting with friends.

Of course, it was more than that.

The Help From Home Campaign contributed to a glaring need in Central Florida that has been made only worse due to the coronavirus and the shutdown around the state.

In Central Florida, one in six children face hunger and due to the coronavirus pandemic, the community faces increased demand for food-insecure families.

The Second Harvest Food Bank has reported a spike in the number of online searches on their Web site. They report they have provided 2.5 million meals for families, kids and seniors in Central Florida in the last two weeks.

Jonathan Isaac has stepped up his work on this front too.

His work with Project Life and J.U.M.P. Ministries has focused on providing lunches and meals to students who depend on school lunches for food and a food delivery service for families to pick up food care packages for the week ahead.

Everyone is certainly doing their part to help out and provide some entertainment at the same time.

Fans can still donate to Magic Gaming’s Help From Home Campaign by visiting this link to the Second Harvest Food Bank’s Web site.

The Magic’s broadcasters — David Steele, Jeff Turner, Dante Marchitelli Dennis Neumann, Nick Anderson and Brian Hill among others — have also pledged to raise funds for Christian Service Center and Second Harvest Food Bank as part of a donation drive from April 9 until April 30.

Fans can donate to this cause by visiting this link and designating the charity they would like to donate to. Fans are also encouraged to show the Magic how they rep their team for a chance to win some great prizes. For more info on this contest visit this Web site for instructions and details.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.