Hunter Kahn, a mechanical engineering student at Cornell University, donated several Nintendo Switch consoles and games to Children’s Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis after withdrawing nearly $ 30,000 in GameStop shares last Wednesday, he told CNN.
Kahn, who lives in Stillwater, Minnesota, said he participated in the purchase of GameStop shares to join the movement to prove that “the big guys on Wall Street” were wrong. But, he said, donating a portion of his new fortune to help children in the hospital was better than waking up to any monetary gain.
Kahn’s donations are valued at more than $ 2,000, said Children’s Minnesota Hospital.
“We are very grateful for this generous donation that will help bring joy to children in our hospitals, especially during these difficult times,” said Jennifer Soderholm, president of the Children’s Minnesota Foundation, in an e-mailed statement to CNN. “It is inspiring to see young people in our community choosing to repay and pay forward.”
Your donations include: six Nintendo Switch Lites, two Nintendo Switches, various games and e-shop gift cards, as well as screen savers and cases for the Switches.
The hospital said patients are already using donations.
“There is no group of people more deserving of receiving a lot of video games than some children going through difficult times,” Kahn told CNN.
Kahn said he encourages others who have profited from the movement to continue to use their good fortune to pay it forward.
“If we’re criticizing these people on Wall Street and moving money around, it wouldn’t make sense if we behave exactly like these people we’re criticizing,” he said.
He is still holding the 50 original shares he bought for $ 30 and said he plans to use the rest of his earnings to pay for college tuition.