Ben Affleck along with popular celebrities came together for a virtual Poker match on 11th April 2020 to generate funds for the large hunger-relief organization, Feeding America. The mission of the charity event was to donate 100% of the profits towards the COVID-19 relief fund to help the needy in their time of distress. This major charity event managed to raise $2 million worth of cash.
Ben Affleck tweeted on 10th April 2020 and invited his friends and other people to participate in the live stream and to encourage fans to witness the event and make donations.
Ben talked about the significance of Feeding America’s effort to feed millions of people. He stated that during such times of distress, we are worried about the helpless families and children, who are not getting their daily meals, and the people who are losing jobs.
What is Feeding America?
Feeding America is a nationwide network of food banks with the mission to eradicate food insecurity. Their sole intention is to provide daily meals to people and communities that are not able to earn enough to feed their families. The latest statistics indicate that more than 37 million people in America do not have sufficient food.
Some of the important factors that have made individuals or families struggle with food are increasing living expenses, no employment, unmanageable bills and health, and mental issues. To tackle hunger issues across the nation, Feeding America is operating 200 food banks and providing food to the deprived section.
With the increase in coronavirus scare, with more people out of work, Feeding America needs more funds to cater to needy people. In order to help this non-profit organization, Ben Affleck collaborated with ACR and started the event titled, “All In For Feeding America.”
More about the Event—“All In For Feeding America”
The online poker match is envisioned to help those people who are finding it difficult to make a living during the pandemic. It was attended by poker experts and 65 celebrities from the sports and entertainment industry. The event was streamed on the Americas Cardroom (ACR) online poker website.
There was no prize pool since all the buy-in money was contributed to hunger relief efforts. The poker charity event had a buy-in of $10,000. The online poker website, ACR also contributed generously to add to the funds.
The live streaming platform Twitch had already collected around $1 million even before the poker match started on Saturday, 11th April 2020. All the participating celebrities gathered virtually to attend this grand charity event on the ACR site.
Actor Ben Affleck, Andy Milonakis, Texas legend Doyle Brunson, Ebony Kenney, Kevin Pollak, Matt Damon, Tom Brady, Tobey Maguire, and Phil Hellmuth were some of the popular celebrities who took part in the online poker match to contribute to the Feeding America charity.
Other prominent personality contestants that took part in the event were Adam Sandler, Sarah Silverman, Jon Hamm, Adam Levine, Cheryl Hines, Jason Bateman, and Aaron Paul. Numerous poker professionals were also part of the charity fundraisers. Some of these were Luke Schwartz, Alex Foxen, Todd Brunson, Jeff Gross, Doyle Brunson, Jon Pardy, Jeff Boski, Jamie Staples, and Jason Koon.
The Winner Among The Prominent Competitors
Ebony Kenney, the expert Poker professional won the poker tourney. She also provided her views on the poker match throughout the event. She was able to defeat some of the top contestants including Matt Damon, Kevin Smith, and Phil Hellmuth in the poker match. Popular Spiderman’s fame, Tobey Maguire and Bryan Cranston were able to participate in the final round of the tournament.
Kevin Pollak who is a star contestant in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) every year managed to capture second place while the humorist and poker enthusiast Andy Milonakis finished in third place.
Covid19 Pandemic: The Crisis That Has Crippled the World!
The present Covid19 pandemic has made life difficult for people all around the world. This horrifying crisis has not only put millions of lives at risk but also made many jobless. Some are even struggling to manage their daily food needs for themselves and their families. Not to mention, the helplessness has caused a lot of distress among people, both rich and poor.
Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organizations operates about 200 food banks in the United States. The concerned authorities have evaluated that they need an additional $1.4bn in funds to operate the food banks smoothly and provide food to the needy around the state for the next six months.
