# Project Pinball Update

**Source:** Pintastic New England  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2021-12-12  
**Duration:** 10m 46s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnF2cXYRwa4

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## Analysis

Project Pinball leadership presented their 'Love Across America' tour update, detailing pandemic-era machine dedications to children's hospitals and Ronald McDonald Houses. The presentation highlighted accessibility innovations (customized machine legs for wheelchair access), memorial plaques honoring families, and upcoming 2022 tour plans. A supporter, George Sinchuk, pledged $6,000 to fund a complete machine donation.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Project Pinball dedicated 7 pinball machines in 15 days across the United States during December 2020 pandemic campaign — _Project Pinball spokesperson during presentation; specific dates and numbers provided_
- [HIGH] Project Pinball will produce customized machine legs with reduced height for wheelchair and child accessibility through Marco Specialties — _Spokesperson announcing production partnership after describing Cincinnati machine customization example_
- [HIGH] George Sinchuk won Project Pinball raffles twice in 2021 and previously in 2015 at Pintastic New England — _Project Pinball spokesperson stating raffle history_
- [HIGH] Project Pinball's Love Across America 2022 tour plans to place 5 machines in 5 weeks covering 5,000 miles — _Presented on slide during update presentation_
- [HIGH] George Sinchuk pledged $6,000 donation to fund a complete pinball machine for hospital placement — _George Sinchuk speaking during live presentation at event_

### Notable Quotes

> "We dedicated, sorry my voice, seven pinball machines in 15 days, which was incredible. And during the pandemic, we had to stay isolated. We were tested before we went on the road. We were tested during the road and after the road. And we did it COVID-free the whole entire time."
> — **Project Pinball spokesperson**, ~2:30
> _Demonstrates Project Pinball's operational scale during 2020 pandemic and commitment to safety protocols_

> "We're going to start producing these legs for Marco Specialties, for other people to be able to enjoy their machine being done, just like this one. It's better for accessibility. It really is."
> — **Project Pinball spokesperson**, ~4:00
> _Announces new product partnership and accessibility innovation initiative_

> "Not only do we do dedication of a pinball machine, it takes on a different meaning. It's like a legacy or a memorial that is left behind for other people going through maybe similar times, could read the inscription, and maybe it will help them through their day."
> — **Project Pinball spokesperson**, ~6:30
> _Articulates Project Pinball's mission philosophy beyond simple machine placement_

> "I like to hand it off to other people that never touched a pinball, and their first reaction is, oh, my goodness, this thing weighs a lot, because it bounces around with such little effort from what it seems like."
> — **Project Pinball spokesperson**, ~8:00
> _Reflects on first-time player experiences with pinball machines_

> "There's a lot of so-called phony-like operations, but his is true. And if you're taking donations, I want to buy a hospital—buy a machine. Yeah, right. Buy a machine, $6,000 dollars to be donated."
> — **George Sinchuk**, ~12:30
> _Demonstrates supporter trust in Project Pinball's authenticity and commitment to donation_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Project Pinball | organization | Charity organization focused on placing pinball machines in children's hospitals and Ronald McDonald Houses; conducted 'Love Across America' tour during COVID-19 pandemic |
| Marco Specialties | company | Major pinball parts distributor partnering with Project Pinball to produce customized machine legs for accessibility |
| George Sinchuk | person | Long-time Project Pinball supporter and raffle winner (2015, 2021); pledged $6,000 donation for machine placement |
| Pintastic New England | event | Annual pinball expo where Project Pinball conducts raffles and George Sinchuk won machines |
| Stern | company | Pinball manufacturer whose machines are raffled by Project Pinball for fundraising |
| Akron Children's Hospital | organization | One of the hospitals that received machine dedication from Project Pinball with memorial plaque |
| Ronald McDonald Houses | organization | Facility type where Project Pinball places machines alongside children's hospitals |
| Star Wars Pinball | game | Stern machine dedicated by Project Pinball; first dedicated machine in 2020 campaign and recipient of big red shoes memorabilia |
| Hot Wheels Pinball | game | Machine placed by Project Pinball at Saint Louis hospital location |
| Star Trek Pinball | game | Machine mentioned as housing Beatles-themed and Hot Wheels placements at Saint Louis hospital |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Project Pinball charity operations and mission, Accessibility innovations in pinball machine design, COVID-19 pandemic impact on charity operations
- **Secondary:** Memorial and legacy plaques on machines, Raffle fundraising for machine acquisition, Partnership with Marco Specialties
- **Mentioned:** Pintastic New England event participation

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.88) — Presentation emphasizes Project Pinball's success, impact, and community support. Uplifting tone about pandemic-era achievements and accessibility improvements. George Sinchuk's donation and testimonial reinforce positive sentiment about the organization's authenticity and mission.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Project Pinball implementing memorial/legacy plaques on donated machines to honor families and create lasting impact beyond simple machine placement (confidence: high) — Spokesperson describes plaques with daughters' words and notes: 'Not only do we do dedication of a pinball machine, it takes on a different meaning. It's like a legacy or a memorial.'
- **[community_signal]** Project Pinball receiving consistent donor support and raffle participation; George Sinchuk pledging $6,000 for machine donation demonstrates sustained community engagement (confidence: high) — George Sinchuk won raffles multiple years (2015, 2021) and pledged $6,000 donation during live presentation
- **[event_signal]** Project Pinball conducting 'Love Across America' tour with scheduled machine dedications and raffle events at Pintastic New England and other venues (confidence: high) — Presentation details 2020 pandemic tour (7 machines in 15 days) and 2022 planned tour (5 machines in 5 weeks, 5,000 miles)
- **[product_strategy]** Project Pinball partnering with Marco Specialties to produce customized accessibility legs reducing machine height for wheelchair access and child players (confidence: high) — Spokesperson announced: 'We're going to start producing these legs for Marco Specialties, for other people to be able to enjoy their machine being done, just like this one. It's better for accessibility.'

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## Transcript

 Yay, I get to take this off. During our travels, I get to wear this all the time. Our charity's been on the road for probably about four weeks now. We're in our Love Across America tour, which we do every single year. and I have a PowerPoint presentation that's going to show what we've been up to during the COVID years. With the pandemic hitting in March, we weren't sure how it was going to affect the world and even the charity. So we were dormant for about three weeks. Beginning in April, we had children's hospitals in Ronald McDonald homes that cleared their schedule. They weren't performing surgeries, treatments. They were trying to find out how to control their protocol in the hospital with this pandemic. So they had a lot of free time to reach out to us, which we'd been trying to get a hold of them when they were busy. And with their cleared schedules, they had plenty of time to pretty much ask us what we were all about. So we knew that we weren't going to be on the road, in 2020 for our regularly scheduled stops. So we had 15 shows scheduled for that year, and we were down to zero. But all of a sudden, we were talking to the hospitals in the Ronald McDonald homes, and they wanted us to give them something of joy in the later portion of the year, which was December. So we put together this campaign that went across the United States. We dedicated, sorry my voice, seven pinball machines in 15 days, which was incredible. And during the pandemic, we had to stay isolated. We were tested before we went on the road. We were tested during the road and after the road. And we did it COVID-free the whole entire time. But it was unlike any other trip that we'd done. Because like I said, the isolation had to be there. I wouldn't even consider coming into a room like this at that time because there were so many uncertainties on how everything was spreading So we had to be very very careful We were super happy The first dedication was in Charleston We put the Star Wars in there, and they handed me these big red shoes, which was fantastic. And if you visit my office, they're sitting right on my desk. They bring me great joy. This is part of the process. We delivered the machines right out of the back of the Escalade. And if you've seen the Escalade in the parking lot, you know that's our pin hauler. You can see we put on pin skates and roll it right into the front door and it goes into its permanent home. And you can see this is a family room. They have a basketball hoop so it fits in quite well with what they're trying to do with the families there. And this one, check out the legs that you see here. What we did was, this was in Cincinnati, we customized this machine. Okay, next slide. And we had Luke Skywalker, his name's Fluke Skywalker, because he looks so much like Mark Dick Hamill. But if you notice the machine, we lowered the legs down so people maybe in wheelchairs could roll right up to it. Smaller kids could walk up to it. Even a full-ground adult like myself could play with these. It was a great idea that was given to us. We're going to start producing these legs for Marco, for other people to be able to enjoy their machine being done, just like this one. It's better for accessibility. It really is. You see the bar stools or the step stools being used for the kids, but this is more natural. They just walk up to it and they start playing it. And this is me after being on the road. Like I said, it was stressful. This was halfway through, and I just had a quiet moment. I wanted to try out the shoes. We had a dedication the next day. I wanted to make sure that I could walk in these shoes pretty well. And this was a dedication in Akron Children's Hospital. This was very special. A mother lost her child and wanted to give back something to the hospital where she received her treatment. So we came up with a plaque that we put on the side of the machines and that was her daughter words that she wanted to put on the side of the machine and there the machine right there we do use the home versions any chance that we get it works very well in our case and this is the Beatles that was in St. Louis like I said it was in December right in time for the holidays And that was the first time that this child played a pinball machine and he was our first player. Okay, there's the Hot Wheels. This was actually in St. Louis as well. And there was a nice plaque, so you could see there's a pattern forming here. Not only do we do dedication of a pinball machine, It takes on a different meaning. It's like a legacy or a memorial that is left behind for other people going through maybe similar times, could read the inscription, and maybe it will help them through their day. And we have a service of people that help our charity, just like you guys in this room. We cannot exist without everybody's help in this room to move along. It does take a tremendous amount of time and effort by everybody. And this is the fun part, and it really is, dropping the balls into the machine for the first time. I like to hand it off to other people that never touched a pinball, and their first reaction is, oh, my goodness, this thing weighs a lot, because it bounces around with such little effort from what it seems like that they never realize that there's weight attached to it. And there's the big red shoes. And I love these shoes. Like I said, I take them to our dedications to always remind me that I have big shoes to fill here. And here's our Love Across America for this year, where five pinball machines are going to be placed in five weeks with 5,000 miles on the road. We got one more to do this coming Tuesday. down in Charlotte, North Carolina. Then we get to go home, and we're going to be back on the road come January, February for another leg of our tour in 2022. So that is what we do. All right, so we've got up to this point. I'd like to bring up one of the members of that village, George Sinchuk. Come on up. He been a supporter of Project Pinball for a long time He and I were talking he chosen you over all other charitable efforts Well Dave that an understatement George has been a huge supporter throughout the years. George has always contacted us just with support. just with support. I met George many years ago in Pintastic here. We do these pinball raffles, you might have heard. We give away pro and premium machines. George was one of our winners many, many years ago. He was a supporter before I even met him. 2015. See, it was the first year we were here. And as Pat, he won twice. This guy's just downright lucky. He's a current winner of 2021 here. He won twice this year. The first time I met was in Rock Fantasy. Rock Fantasy, yeah. Yeah, just a couple of weeks ago. Our friends down in Middletown, New York, Pinball Rock Fantasy. So George, you were telling me that this, it's not so much that you won the game, but by winning that sort of proved to you the authenticity of the project involved. Yeah, so there's a lot of so-called phony-like operations, but his is true. And if you're taking donations, I want to buy a hospital, donation- Buy a machine. Yeah, right. Buy a machine, $6,000. dollars to be donated. $6,000. That's like a big one, right? That's a whole machine. See, I might be the spokesperson for the charity, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to it takes people like this to move it forward that's why we're up to 57 let's not wait for the money to pile up let's do it right now we're truly blessed here definitely I'm speechless Thank you. I appreciate it.

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 841d3894-ec4c-409c-80d4-ecf04089a74a*