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KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/05/12 -- Thanks to the generosity of those who play online games at Hoopla.com, more people around the world will soon have the opportunity to receive the gift of hearing.

Hoopla.com is a free, online gaming website where players can "Game for Good" by donating Hoops, which are the points they earn playing games, to charity. The company turns those virtual donations into real charitable contributions.

In October, Hoopla.com offered members of its player community the opportunity to make their virtual donations count for even more, by pledging a $5,000 bonus contribution to the charity that received the most Hoops by the end of the month.

"We were already impressed with the passion for helping others our players demonstrate on a daily basis by donating Hoops to our charitable partners, but when we gave them the chance to use their donations as a way of voting for their favorite cause to receive a bonus contribution, they really rose to the challenge!" says Hoopla.com president Duane Lockwood.

When the donations were counted, Starkey Hearing Foundation, which gives away more than 100,000 hearing aids to people in need each year, and promotes hearing health awareness and education around the world, came out on top, with more than 8.6 M Hoops donated.

"We are excited the Hoopla.com player community cast their votes for us to receive the $5,000 bonus contribution in October, and we can't thank them, and Hoopla.com, enough for their ongoing support for the gift of hearing," says Bill Austin, founder of Starkey Hearing Foundation.

Research indicates more than 145 million people in the United States spend in excess of 215 million hours a day playing games online.

Hoopla.com allows them to have fun playing casual games while helping others and getting daily opportunities to win prizes, from gift cards to high-end vacations.

The concept of playing it forward is clearly a hit. Launched less than three months ago, Hoopla.com boasted more than 70,000 unique visitors in October, with its players donating close to 40 M Hoops last month alone.

Starkey Hearing Foundation is one of six charities Hoopla.com players can currently support through online play. The others are Chiropractic For The World, Indspire, A World Fit For Kids, WorldServe, and ASSET. To learn more about these organizations and how Hoopla.com and its player community is helping them change lives, visit hoopla.com/charities.