HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Videogames dominate many kids’ pastimes, but 18-year-old Theo Lazarou has turned his passion for gaming into a way to help others. The Long Reach High School graduate has been busy gaming to raise money for Johns Hopkins pediatric leukemia research.
“I think people are starting to realize that they can take their passion and put it toward helping the community,” Lazarou told WBAL. “I saw people playing video games — which is something that I really like to do — and I saw they were making a difference in their community. So to me, it was like a no-brainer that I wanted to do the same.”
Lazarou explained that he was speedrunning a “602 race” during a 24-hour Super Mario-themed event. Speedrunning means he was trying to break records by finishing the game in as little time as possible, oftentimes by using glitches in a game’s code and advanced techniques to skip ahead.
“Even for someone who loves playing video games, doing it for 24 hours can be difficult, but thankfully, I had a lot of support from family and friends,” Lazarou said.
So far, Lazarou has raised more than $700.
