Serious videogamers struck their opponents with banana peels, lightning and Koopa shells Wednesday night in the Perkins Student Center during the Psychology Club’s second annual Mario Kart tournament.

The event raised approximately $100 to support the Arlington, Va.-based nonprofit organization National Alliance on Mental Illness, which provides support and education for mentally ill patients and their families. Junior Shelby Brightbill, president of the Psychology Club, says the club wanted to host an event that a number of students could participate in and enjoy.

“All of our friends obsessively play [Mario Kart],” Brightbill says.

Players paid $3 for a place on the bracket and unlimited pizza. During each of the tournament’s four rounds, four competitors raced on one of two TVs. The winner of each round won a cup within the game and moved up in the bracket.

Prizes included an Xbox and gift cards to Iron Hill Brewery and Chipotle. Brightbill says students were enthusiastic about the Xbox and called her throughout the week asking about bringing their own controllers.

“They’re very competitive,” she says.

Players had their eyes fixed on the screen and hands gripping the controllers. Ultimately, first place went to senior Carl Demander, while sophomore pre-veterinary major Max Manse came in second and senior history education major David Mulrooney took home third place.

Demander, who won as the character Princess Peach, says he was happy about the prize because his own Xbox had stopped working.

“I was pretty confident going into it,” Demander says. “I played a lot as a kid.”

Representatives from the National Alliance on Mental Illness were also present to answer questions and watch the competition. Matt Stehl, executive director of the alliance, says the organization offers patient housing in the area and currently serves 4,500 people within Delaware.

“We want to end the stigma of mental illness,” Stehl says.

The brain is an organ just like the heart, he says, and mental illness is a disease just like cancer.

Charles “Ebbie” Alfree III, assistant director of community and public relations, says the organization provides free educational programs and support groups for people living with mental illnesses. The support groups include “peer-to-peer,” a 10-session program taught by a trained volunteer who has previously gone through the program as a patient.

“[The volunteers] fully understand what the people are dealing with,” Alfree says.

The organization also offers “family-to-family,” a 12-week program taught by a trained volunteer who has a relative living with mental illness. Alfree says this program is designed to teach people how to care for a mentally ill patient as well as to remind caretakers to take time for themselves.

He says he is glad to see the Psychology Club giving the alliance recognition.

“It’s very gratifying when I see people who have gone through these mental illnesses improve and seek a benefit from the programs,” Alfree says.

Brightbill says she was drawn to the organization because of its practical assistance to mentally ill patients as well as its work combating stereotypes about mental illness.

“Even a lot of students go through tough times, and the stigma is very bad,” she says. “We want to change the stigma and get the people involved.”

Brightbill says the club’s future fundraising events will benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness. She hopes to host an event each semester.

“I think it’s really important to give back,” she says. “They don’t ask anything back—it’s our way to contribute.”