Roughly six years ago, family vloggers Benji and Judy Travis — whose ItsJudysLife channel counts 1.4 million subscribers — launched their Dancember initiative, a holiday fundraising effort that also comprises a dance-filled, 24-hour live stream. Dancember benefits Convoy Of Hope, which describes itself as a faith-based, humanitarian organization seeking to feed hungry children the world over.
Over the years, Dancember has grown exponentially in scope and in quantity of funds raised. Last year, for instance, the Travises raised roughly $221,000, but this year they have raised $492,137.31 (and counting) by auctioning off personalized video messages, merchandise, and even a trip for two to VidCon. On December 16, Benji and Judy kicked off a 24-hour dancing broadcast on YouTube to help drive donations featuring appearances by fellow YouTube stars ILikeWeylie, Desi Perkins, LaToyaForever, Sam Schuerman, and ToThe9s.
Check out a glimpse behind-the-scenes right here:
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“We are so thankful for everyone who has already partnered with us, but the work is not done yet,” Benji said in a statement. “Our goal is to raise $500,000 by midnight December 31 because every child counts.” To this end, the event’s theme this year is ‘Feed The Stadium’ — meaning that the duo hopes to raise enough money to be able to feed 50,000 children.
This year’s event was so massive that a server overload during the live broadcast crashed the fundraising page, and so Convoy of Hope had to re-route donors to a backup page via mobile fundraising platform Classy. “Benji, Judy and their YouTube colleagues and fans are amazing people with unbelievable passion and energy for transforming the world for the better,” Convoy Of Hope president Hal Donaldson said in a statement. All told, Benji and Judy count roughly 3.2 million YouTube subscribers across three channels: ItsJudysLife, beauty channel ItsJudyTime, and cooking channel BenjiManTV.
To donate to the campaign, which is running through midnight on Dec. 31, click here.
