Hundreds of people came together to play video and board games to help raise funds for a good cause.

Over the weekend, the group ‘Buffalo Mushrooms’ hosted their third annual Gaming Marathon – stemming from ‘Extra Life’, a movement in the United States that hosts these types of events for kids.

Through the event and previous fundraising efforts, they were able to raise around $3,600 for the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton.

Co-Organizer Neal Barry tells Mix News interest in the marathon was beyond what they expected.

“To be perfectly honest, there were points in time where it got busy enough that I think we’re going to get a bigger venue next year.”

The event also featured people from outside of the community. A surprise visit topped off the event for Barry.

“I actually had a friend of mine, he drove up from Edmonton with his daughter, I basically walked into the backroom and I’m like ‘okay this is great, there’s people sitting down, they’re playing games’ I went around to introduce myself and it was them and I couldn’t have been happier.”

Last year, the group was able to raise around $3,500 through their fundraising efforts. Barry notes they still plan on raising more funds throughout the rest of the year to try and get to their $5,000 goal.

Moving forward, the hope is the marathon will gain popularity across Wood Buffalo and grow into something even bigger.

“There was definitely a lot more traffic this year and the interest in it is something that’s palpable,” added Barry.