Fortnite Gamer From LI Raises $60K For Angela's House Non-Profit

HAUPPAUGE, NY — Tim "Bizzle" Miller, a Fortnite gamer from Long Island, participated in the Charity Showdown run by Twitch Rivals late last year. Miller, 21, of Commack, donated $60K to Angela's House, a non-profit that assists families caring for children that are medically frail, chronically ill or suffering from life threatening conditions, after winning bronze, the organization announced in a press release.

Miller graduated Commack High School in 2016 and attended Penn State University, where he studied accounting. After a year at Penn State, he realized that accounting was not for him and returned home and enrolled in Suffolk Community College’s Cyber Security Program. Prior to Fortnite, Miller began his competitive playing with a game called Counter Strike. He started playing Fortnite in 2018 and signed as a professional player with Ghost Gaming in June 2018.

Following success in the Summer Skirmish Fortnite Tournaments, Miller decided to take some time off of college and his job at The Hamlet Golf Course in Commack, where he worked since high school, and started playing Fortnite full-time.

According to Angela's House, Miller was drawn to the organization by his family's dear friend, Jerry DeSena, who introduced the Millers to Angela’s House. The family immediately felt a desire to help the charity in any way they could. Miller has attended the Angela’s House Annual Walk and played golf at the Angela’s House Golf Outings.

"I was so happy to be able to play in the Twitch Rivals Community Charity Showdown and win money for Angela’s House," Miller said via news release. "I know that this donation will directly help the children at Angela’s House. Being from Long Island, I wanted to play for a local charity and the work that is done to help medically fragile children at Angela’s House is amazing."

The tournament involved incorporating teams with pros select players (a four-man squad) from the Fortnite community based on a qualification process from a week prior. With charity being the main focus of the event, every team was awarded with a payout to its selected charity. Coming in third place, out of 20 participating teams, Miller received $60,000 and gifted the proceeds to help medically-fragile children in the Long Island community.

Miller's contribution will benefit the Angela’s House Everyday Wishes Program which assists extraordinary children and families who have everyday, but critical, needs. Through grants, fundraising events, corporate sponsorship and other donations, like from the Charity Showdown, the local non-profit is able to increase its capacity to provide their families with medical supplies, therapeutic equipment, technology, home modifications, respite, counseling, advocacy, service coordination, crisis assistance, alternative medicine, special camps and other resources for their medically fragile children that cannot be funded by other means.

Angela’s House works with children that unfortunately have essential equipment or supplies denied by their private insurance and/or Medicaid and need an alternative funding source to help their parents/guardians to pay for these much needed items, the non-profit said.

Raised funds are only used when the organization has exhausted all other means. Angela’s House receives requests every week from parents that need assistance with getting important resources for their children.

Founder and Executive Director of Angela’s House, Bob Policastro, was astonished by the news of Miller's contribution.

"We are honored how Tim selected Angela’s House for this tournament," he said via release. "Amazing how well he did and the generous donation he won for us. This is the ultimate epitome of youth helping their fellow youth by the efforts of this fine, young man. We are very excited how his donation will help many medically-fragile children."

The organization said Miller's donation will also help raise awareness about the limited options that children born and diagnosed as being medically frail, chronically ill or suffering from any type of life threatening condition(s) have as far as services available to help them when and/or if they leave the hospital.

Angela's House was founded in 1992. Its home care programs work with over 670 children that live at home with their parents by coordinating the home care services needed to support these children. This includes services such as medical equipment, nursing support, therapies, medications and making their homes handicapped accessible.

More information about Angela’s House can be found here.