It’s Party Time with BalenaProductions’ 5th Annual Charity Stream

BalenaProductions is back and ready for their 5^th annual Dreamscape Foundation charity stream event! After crushing last year’s goal, Steve (Balena), Ron (Rigg3l), and Ted (ApocHedgie) are ready to make an even bigger impact this time around. Starting at 8pm (EST) on Sunday December 15^th the team will be raising money for Toys for Tots and Friends of Foster Children Forever. With a whole lot planned, plus prizes and giveaways, it’s sure to be an all-out party….Mario Party that is!

Let’s Meet the Team

All long time gamers and friends, Steve, Ron, and Ted all got started on Twitch streaming their playthroughs of games. But what keeps them there today is all the possibilities a stream holds. Steve (Balena) being a natural foodie at heart, loves chatting with his viewers and having deep, heart felt conversation about food. While Ron (Rigg3l) on the other hand tends to go a little past just chatting in his streams. When asked about his favorite stream activities he had this to say, “Either playing competitive games or just playing rage inducing games and yelling about them”.  Definitely on the competitive side, Ron keeps his things interesting but it’s always in good fun.

Ted (ApocHedgie) is a multiplayer kind of guy. Whether it’s hosting a server for a bunch of friends or just playing in a big group, Ted loves the social aspect of gaming. Aside from playing big group games, Ted also lets his viewers who donate choose his next game. Which isn’t always a good thing for him! “I love when people donate to make me play whatever game they want, most of the time they make me play horrible things that shouldn’t even exist, but sometimes you get a nice guy who just wants you to play something good for once”, said Ted. Lucky for Ted, during the stream the guys will be playing Mario Party on Gamecube. Playing as DK (Steve), Wario (Ron), and Waluigi (Ted) to battle it out for that first place win, things are bound to get heated!

How the Gang Got Together

Steve and Ron first met way back in the 4^th grade and have been friends ever since. Together they started their own Youtube channel (BalenaProductions) and began making videos. Using animations and voiceovers of their favorite characters, primarily Sonic the Hedgehog, they created dozens of short clips for fun. As their channel grew and grew, they knew they needed to step up their content. Steve set out trying to find some new animations and mods, and in 2012 met Ted. As Ted put it, “he had some high quality standards for videos”, but once Steve saw what he could do, they began working together on some videos. While working on the videos, they started becoming friends more than colleagues.

Eventually, Steve introduced Ted to Ron and the rest of their friends. At that time, Steve and Ron had switched from making episodes of their popular Youtube show Pixel Brains and began streaming them live on Twitch. According to Ted, “when they started doing PixelBrains streams instead of episodes, I was occasionally invited (more and more) to co-host with them”. They had a blast streaming together, and “since then Ted has been a very regular guest on Pixel Brains” said Ron. Fast forward 7 plus years later and the group is still going strong!

Every Little Bit Helps

We all know there are people out there who are not as fortunate as some of us. The right thing to do is help out when you can to give them hope and a chance at changing things for the better.  This is just another thought these friends have in common. Over the years, Steve has partnered with the Dreamscape Foundation and other nonprofits time and time again. This year, in the 5^th annual Dreamscape stream he is looking forward to lending a helping hand while having a ton of fun. As a charity stream veteran, he had a message for other streamers thinking of giving it a shot, saying “Every little bit helps”! This simple sentence has some powerful meaning. Too many times streamers are afraid their stream won’t raise enough to matter. But it isn’t all about the amount raised! Spreading the word and educating people on the cause you’re supporting is enough in itself.

Alongside Steve in past Dreamscape charity streams, Ron is a big supporter of volunteering as well. While most of his work has been in support of the Dreamscape Foundation, he has also gone outside the realm of e-based volunteering. When he was still in school, Ron had the opportunity to take part in helping out his local community. He and a group worked to help clean up trash and litter in parks around their area. Now ready for the next charity stream Ron had some final words to share, “Never stop believing in yourself. Each day brings new challenges, try your best to overcome them and never be afraid to ask for help along the way”! Despite what life throws at you, there is always hope and a way to overcome the obstacles.

Similarly to his partners, Ted has been a constant supporter and volunteer for the Dreamscape Foundation charity streams. But before they began streaming, he still did his fair share to give back. He knows how important local organizations and their programs are to the communities they serve. Their only purpose is to help those who need it, but without outside support they won’t get much accomplished. That’s why Ted has volunteered multiple times to help local charities with anything he could. From shipping and receiving, to freshness tracking of food items, he was up for anything they needed him to do. Going into this year’s charity stream, he is looking forward to not only helping those in need, but being a role model to other streamers looking to do the same. It’s not hard to do, “just get out there and do it! Find a charity you like, advertise as best you can and try to raise some money and awareness for your favorite charity! Every bit counts, so don’t get discouraged if you can’t raise a million bucks”!

The 5^th Annual Dreamscape Charity Stream

Keeping the tradition alive for the 5^th consecutive year, Balena Productions is back at it again! Coming together to support the Salvation Army’s Toys for Tots and Friends of Foster Children Forever, they are looking to demolish last year’s results. Prizes, giveaways, and great games are on deck for this event with an epic Mario Party battle being the forefront. The smack talking has already begun with Ted feeling real confident in his Waluigi skills and getting Ron as flustered as possible after each win! Will Ron make Ted eat those words? Or will Steve, keeping quiet, come out and surprise them both. To find out and see all the other fun ideas they have planned, make sure you tune in this Sunday December 15^th beginning at 8pm! (Click here to visit our Tiltify.com page)

But having fun and playing games isn’t all! All those who donate will receive a thank you gift and raffle entries for a chance to win 1 of 2 Grand Prizes. Please see below for the giveaway breakdown:

(please note, all prizes ship US only)

• Tier 1 – $5:
  • 1 Random Steam Key
  • 1 Raffle entry to win a $50 Amazon gift card
• Tier 2 – $10:
  • 1 Random Steam Key
  • 1 Dreamscape T-Shirt
  • 3 Raffle entries to win a $50 Amazon gift card
• Tier 3 – $20:
  • 4 Random Steam Keys
  • 1 Dreamscape T-Shirt
  • 5 Raffle entries to win a $50 Amazon gift card
• Tier 4 – $50:
  • 4 Random Steam Keys
  • 1 Dreamscape T-Shirt
  • 1 $10 Nintendo eShop Gift Card
  • 5 Raffle entries to win a $50 Amazon gift card
  • 5 Raffle entries to win a $100 Amazon gift card
• Tier 5 – $100:
  • 4 Random Steam Keys
  • 1 Dreamscape T-Shirt
  • 1 $10 Nintendo eShop Gift Card
  • 1 Mystery Funko Pop
  • 5 Raffle entries to win a $50 Amazon gift card
  • 10 Raffle entries to win a $100 Amazon gift card
• Tier 6 – $250:
  • 4 Random Steam Keys
  • 1 Dreamscape T-Shirt
  • 1 $10 Nintendo eShop Gift Card
  • 1 Mystery Funko Pop
  • 1 Nintendo Switch Joy-Con 4 in 1 Charging Station
  • 5 Raffle entries to win a $50 Amazon gift card
  • 20 Raffle entries to win a $100 Amazon gift card
  • A featured article on our Blog Page

As always, donations are never required and we ask you only give what you are able! We hope to see you all there and we can’t wait to get this party started! To keep up with the guys as they get ready for Sunday please feel free to follow them on their socials! Balena Productions Twitch, Balena Productions Youtube, Ron (Rigg3l) Twitch, Steve (Balena) Twitter, Ted (ApocHedgie) Twitch and Twitter!