Episode 21 – MDA Let's Play - A Community for Everyone

MDA Let's Play is a welcoming online gathering place for teens and adults where they play together, forge new friendships, share similar challenges, learn new skills, and sometimes get to hang out with celebrities, sports athletes, and professional creators. More than two million viewers have watched MDA Let's Play online events on Twitch. I chat with Larry Leiberman, the founder of MDA Let’s Play, Kenny Small (AKA Beaniez), the program manager and host of MDA Let’s Play, and Charlie Mabry, a streamer and content creator living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who has connected with MDA Let’s Play to host games and fundraising events.

Transcript

Guests:

Larry Lieberman is the founder of MDA Let's Play, a vibrant community of supportive gamers and creators. Larry is a longtime entertainment industry veteran, having produced several top albums and television shows as well as hundreds of concerts, festivals, and gaming events. In addition to MDA, his philanthropy focuses on education and the mental health and emotional wellbeing of young adults. He is the former chief operating officer of Charity Navigator.

Connect with Larry:

Kenny Small, more commonly known as Beaniez, is the Program Manager and Host for MDA Let’s Play. Beaniez began his career in gaming with Collegiate Esports, where he acted as Team Manager for Rutgers University Overwatch while pursuing event hosting/commentary. Nowadays he spends his time streaming on the MDA Let’s Play channel and creating enjoyable memorable experiences for the members of the MDA Let’s Play community. Between hosting streams, events, and community activities, Beaniez works to connect the beneficiaries of MDA & their supporters in a safe and fun virtual environment. Outside of work you can catch him playing his favorite games and trying to keep his cat Lenny under control!

Connect with Beaniez:

Charlie Mabry lives with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and has been part of The MDA Ambassador Program since 2017. He has participated in multiple MDA community and fundraising events where he lives in Georgia. In 2020, Charlie became a streamer and content creator and started a Tik Tok account called Keepcharliemoving. His platform focuses on sharing his life story living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. An avid gamer, he also streams video games on Twitch. Charlie connected with the MDA Let's Play community, a community he says its one of the best things that he has ever been a part of. Since joining MDA Let’s Play, Charlie has been involved in a variety of fundraising events, including MDA Takes Vegas and MDA Rivals. You can catch Charlie hosting Rocket league games every other Sunday at 2pm EST on the MDA Let's Play Twitch Channel. You can also find him on all social platforms as KeepCharlieMoving and on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/charlieharley_1!

Connect with Charlie:

Mindy Henderson is the Director of Quest Media, Editor-in-Chief of MDA’s Quest magazine and the host of this podcast. She was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, type 2 when she was 15 months old and has been a life-long partner to MDA. Mindy is also a motivational speaker and a writer, and just published her first book, The Truth About Things That Suck.

Connect with Mindy: