Warren Easton, a school established in 1845, was flooded with seven feet of water after Katrina hit and was the location of President Bush's speech on the first anniversary of the hurricane.

"Most of our students come from single parent homes. But the kids keep out of trouble. Events like this one with Sony help a lot," said Charter School Foundation President Billy Hatchett III. "So does their generous donation." I'm not a fan of big corporations generally, but I agree with Mr. Hatchett in this case. Here's where a giant company like Sony can do the most good.

VH1's Harold Goldberg was on hand to party with the kids as they played the karaoke game and danced to the music of Trombone Shorty and his Orleans Avenue Band. The kids apparently loved the game so much that they refused to stop playing when Duran Duran popped by to talk with them.

Poor Duran Duran, they need to go back to Second Life where its still the 80s and people love them. Brian Crecente

Sony's SingStar Rocks! Hits Big Easy School [VH1]

Are you a gamer who still wants to help out the victims of Hurricane Katrina? Plantronics is selling an emerald-green Halo 2 headset usually worth about fifty clams for a low, low price of $14.95.

Not only that, but a buck out of every purchase goes to the Platronics GameCom United Way Katrina Recovery Fund. After that money passes through the filter of New Orleans' corrupt politicians, that means that almost two cents of your $15 bucks will be going directly to aid the people that Katrina (and the incompetence of their trusted leaders) left destitute, displaced and homeless.

But it sure is a swell headset for $15 bucks. Thanks for the tip, Chilly! Florian Eckhardt

Halo 2 Headsets Benefit Katrina Victims [Xbox.com]

Virtual worlds Second Life and There, always a mainstay of online memorials for real-world events, are letting players convert their virtual cash into the real thing to donate to the Katrina flood victims, according to BBC News.

Makena Technologies, the company behind There, is even matching up to $50,000 of the community's contributions.

It's good to see so many gamers coming together in so many unique ways to do what they can to help.

Storm Help Flows from 3D Worlds [BBC]

8Bit Joystick is auctioning off a mid-80s Atari 2600 and about 18 games on eBay with 100 percent of the money going toward the Red Cross. The lot includes:

Atari 2600 Redesigned Smaller System Nintendo NES RF Switch (Works best with no cables plugged in) AC Adaptor Classic Atari Joystick Suncom TAC2 Joystick (cords slightly dinged but works) Ms. Pac-Man Missile Command Frogger Pac-Man Asteroids Combat Pitfall! Joust E.T. Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back Astroblast Spiderman Mario Bros. Q-Bert Jungle Hunt Donkey Kong Space Invaders Defender

Just think you can pick up a sweet retro console and donate money to a worthy cause.

Instant Atari 2600 Collection Auction for Hurricane Relief [8Bit Joystick]

Congratulations to Azrael25 who won the charity GameSwag auction I set up over on eBay. The lot of nearly 20 unique gamer books, stickers, shirts and one very cool Xbox 360 faceplate sold for $500. Awesome!

Thanks to everyone for spreading the word and bidding on the items.

Swag List [Kotaku]

Who's the muscle man
That's an action star with all the kills?

Who is the man that would outlaw games
For his brother man?

Who's the Gov that's a hypocrite
When the political chips fall?

They say that cat is a woman molester
SHUT YOUR MOUTH!
But I'm talking about . Who?

OK, this is it, we re down to the last few hours of the Kotaku GameSwag fundraiser for victims of Katrina. If nothing else, you should go check out the list of unbuyables that I ve put together for the auction. There s some pretty interesting bits of gameswag in the collection. Last I checked, the bid was up to $333. You have until about 11 a.m. Eastern Time to bit in a final bid. I m leaving the country on Thursday, so I ll make sure to ship it out to you ASAP.
Good lucks and thanks to everyone who has spread the word or bid.

Kotaku s GameSwag Katrina Fundraiser [Kotaku]

OK, were down to the last day or so. The Kotaku Gamer Swag Charity Auction wraps up about 10 a.m. New York time Tuesday. Last I checked the eBay auction was up to $285 or so. Keep in mind that not only do you get some cool game-related stuff (lots of which you can t buy), 100 percent of the proceeds go to the Red Cross Alabama Gulf Cost chapter.

Some of the items in the auction include a xbox 360 E3 faceplate, City of Heroes boxing gloves and a Resident Evil 4 Laser Cel.

Feel free to email me with any questions.

Kotaku s GameSwag Katrina Fundraiser [Kotaku]

She's still at her half-submerged house with a roommate, water, tinned food and a gun for company.

This certainly isn't the saddest of the stories emerging from the chaos caused by Katrina, but it helps to put a very real human face on the problems facing that part of the country.

Just because you didn't die in Katrina doesn't mean you will survive its aftermath. Sure, maybe you won't die. But what about your job, your house, everything you owned? What will those people, and there are hundreds of thousands of them, do?

Here's some choice excerpts from her story, which she calls Ghosts in the Shadows of New Orleans:

I'm running out of fuel, I'm locked away from support, and there are no more supplies in the city. I have enough to stay in this room for a month, which should be more than enough. I've been shot twice in my life, and stabbed as well. I'm what I would consider a very grizzled person, I've lived through monsoons, long winters, and food shortages. This has taken my breath away, this destruction, this mindless hate and anger the people here have adopted to survive. Like I said before, it's like a video game.

I don't know what it was, the flood, the hurricane, or the death that has husked these people of their minds, but the people here have died, it's just that they still walk like humans. There's no place for us here, and they just walk, looking for something. Home, family, pets, someplace cool.. You bump into them, and they say one thing to you, maybe two. But that's it, that's all they can muster. If you say hello, it's like being in an RPG.

'Hello, how're you today? I've got some guns you can look at, open my shop.'
'You again? Well, that's great. I hope you'll buy something this time around.'
'Hello, how're you today? I've got some guns you can look at, open my shop.'
'You again? Well, that's great. I hope you'll buy something this time around.'

They walk around until something prompts them, they react, and continue. No different than in an NPC. They say so little, and everything they do is exactly the same. One of my neighbors down the street sits in his front yard all day. I think he's done the same crossword puzzle six or seven times by now. Sometimes I feel like I should go invite him here, this little oasis in a ruined city. You see, in a city with no power, flood water, and death; my small room, this tiny air conditioned room with a computer and a few days of water and food, I am truly a queen, surrounded by the damned.

This country has been dealt a gut-punch, go read the rest of the article and then volunteer or donate. Everyone needs to do something.

A Gamer's Take on Katrina: Ghosts in the Shadows of New Orleans [RAB]

Being a little slow on the uptake, it didn't dawn on me until Friday night that I could actually do something to help raise funds for Katrina.

Thankfully, I quickly came to the conclusion that writing up a generic paragraph of snarky (misspelled) crap and selling it on eBay probably wouldn't raise much money. Instead, I've decided to assemble a modest pile of game swag and auction it off on eBay with 100 percent of the proceeds going to support American Red Cross's Alabama Gulf Cost Chapter in Mobile, Alabama.

While there are some real gems in the stuff I'm giving away, the most prized item is likely my E305 Xbox 360 faceplate. And unlike some people, I actually only got one of these bad boys at the Microsoft press conference. (I'd offer to sign it, but that would just lower its value.)

Check out the full list of items after the jump and then hop on over to eBay and bid something. Remember this all goes to the Red Cross and its efforts helping out the victims of Katrina.

Gold City of Heroes Boxing Gloves: Voted most non-sensical swag item of 2005.

Devil May Cry 3, 25 to Life and Metal Gear Acid T-Shirts: Because you can never have too many game T-shirts.

Resident Evil Outbreak T-Shirt: A RE Outbreak T-shirt compressed into the shape of a gun, perfect for breaking out of prison.

The Maximo Vs. Army of Zin Limited Edition Laser Cel: One of only 9,250 prints. Sweet.

Resident Evil 4 Laser Cel: Print number 15,168 of 18,850. Not nearly exclusive as that extra swank Zin print.

Xbox 360 Faceplate: Straight from E3 never even removed from it's packaging.

Auto Assault Business Card Holder: Shiny card holder filled with Auto Assault game cards.

Metal Gear Acid and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Stickers: Perfect for that car you don't own.

Fable Metal Die: A big square metal die with different Fable-esque phrases on it, like Choose Evil.

Arc the Lad Paperweight: I got nothing on this one, sorry.

Top Gear Rally Sculpture: This tiny metal sculpture shows a severed foot on a gas pedal or maybe it's a brake. I'm not really sure.

Nintendo Ice Cube: It's clear, plastic and blinks. It wasn't so much swag as something I swiped from the bar where Nintendo held their E3 party. Shhhhh.

The Art of Guild Wars: Fantastic book featuring the art of the massively multiplayer game Guild Wars.

Darkwatch Innocence Comic Book: This is really more graphic novel than comic book, kind of cool to read the back-story for the game.

The Making of Doom 3 book: This is a pretty interesting coffee table book on the making of the creepy first-person shooter.

OK now, get to that crazy fund-raiser bidding. The auction ends Tuesday morning.

A quick addition, here's a chilling account of Katrina's aftermath from a gamer who lives in Alabama.

The talented duo over at Penny Arcade have donated some original Penny Arcade art to the Red Cross. The original pencil drawing that was used for the cover of the Penny Arcade Expo this year is up for sale on eBay with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the Red Cross. The 8.5 by 11-inch drawning also comes with a high quality color print of the final program cover. Both items are signed by Tycho and Gabe.

Last I checked the bid was at $1,575. Go spend money for a good cause.

Original Penny Arcade Art! [eBay]

I ve received a few notes since posting about the fundraising efforts Sony has been doing with Everquest 2. I m told Electronic Arts is doing matching donations for their employees, which is an excellent thing. Bungie has kicked off the Fight the Flood effort. I suggest you hop over there right now and purchase a T-Shirt, most of the proceeds will go to the Red Cross.

Keep the fund-raisers coming.

Buy This T-Shirt Right Now [Bungie]

In an incredibly thoughtful move, Sony has added the /donate command to Everquest 2. Typing it in while playing the massively multiplayer game jumps you straight to the Red Cross s Hurricane 2005 relief page where you can make donations. Sony goes on to say that they estimate that 13,000 of their players were effected by Katrinia and that they will be suspending their accounts until they can play again.

Sony wraps up by saying that effected gamers items will be preserved until they logon again, meaning their digital houses won t erode or decay.

If you hear of any other game-related Katrina fund-raisers, let me know and I'll try to post an item about it.

Please Lend a Helping Hand in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina [EQ2 Players]