Wednesday, April 8, 2020 | 2:55 PM

2534451_web1_pal-fortnitefundraiser03-041620 — Photos courtesy of Jessica Simonson

Shane Jenkins plays a round of Fortnite in a tournament created to raise money for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. The Plum student raised over $500 during the fundraiser.

2534451_web1_pal-fortnitefundraiser02-041620 — Photos courtesy of Jessica Simonson

Garett Huff plays a round of Fortnite in a tournament created to raise money for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

2534451_web1_pal-fortnitefundraiser01-041620 — Photos courtesy of Jessica Simonson

Paxton Simonson plays a round of Fortnite in a tournament created to raise money for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

A video game tournament played by Plum elementary students has raised nearly $2,000 for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank since the end of March.

The online, interactive video game has been Jason Simonson’s sons’ go-to game to connect with friends they haven’t seen since the covid-19 pandemic moved most of the world indoors and closed schools.

“We were all sitting on the couch one day, seeing about fundraisers happening all over country for food banks. And the boys were all … yelling at each other about who’s better at Fortnite. So I thought, let’s turn it into something productive,” he said.

Simonson and his wife, Jessica, went to GoFundMe and launched the fundraiser on March 27. The first round of the tournament began April 5.

Simonson said it started with about 12 kids, but when it grew to 32, he decided to cap it.

“It takes a lot of time to organize,” said Simonson.

The buy-in started at $10, which got players a spot in the winner’s bracket. If that player lost, they were done. So Simonson created a loser’s bracket and charged kids another $10 to have the option to keep playing.

The players also are encouraged to keep raising money on the GoFundMe website, where it had raised $1,689 as of Wednesday morning.

“I did fundraising for six years in public health. And one thing I learned there is that kids can raise money. So there are a couple kids who have raised like $300, some in the $200 range. There’s one kid with $500,” Simonson said.

Lisa Scales, president of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, has said food banks across the country, including Pittsburgh, are strained because of the amount of people who have recently found themselves unemployed.

She said the food bank handed out 1 million more pounds of food than usual in March. The food bank held its fifth drive-up food distribution at its headquarters in Duquesne on Monday, serving 861 vehicles in three hours. About a half-hour before the noon start, vehicles were backed up onto Route 837.

Scales has said the best way to help strained food banks is to give financially.

The money from the Fortnite tournament will go directly to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, where Simonson said he personally knows administrative workers.

But the nonprofit won’t be the only winner.

Simonson plans to crown a winner of the tournament April 20. In addition to bragging rights, the winner will receive a $50 gift card to GameStop.

There’s also a social engagement component to the tournament, Simonson said.

“This allows the kids to socially engage with each other during a time they can’t be with each other, obviously,” he said. “It allows them to forget about what’s going on, because, socially, they’re together.”

Paxton Simonson, 10, agrees. He said he misses school and his friends.

“It’s hard to stay inside,” he said.

Simonson said he may start another Fortnite tournament after this one ends. To donate, go to the group’s GoFundMe page. But he also wants to be able to help other parents who might want to start their own event to raise funds for a cause. For tips, email him at Giajay54@yahoo.com.