Days after introducing its new suite of charitable tools for creators, YouTube has unveiled a fundraising partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to benefit kids with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Throughout September, 12 YouTube gaming channels will use the new YouTube Giving tools to raise vital funds by participating in a special Childhood Cancer Awareness Month edition of St. Jude’s Play Live.
Creators involved include Smosh Games, LaurenzSide, AbdallahSmash026, Funhaus, AtomicMari, JeromeASF, Aphmau, Blessious, IGN, ItsFunneh, KreekCraft, and Noahj546.
Play Live usually takes place in May and offers prizes and weekly challenges to gamers over the age of 13 who stream kid-friendly games and direct viewers to their fundraising page on St. Jude’s website. In the past four years, Play Live events have raised more than $10,000,000 — with all that money going directly to St. Jude.
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Creators involved in the initiative will (by way of YouTube Giving) display their Play Live campaign next to their videos and livestreams, where viewers will be able to make donations. Creators can also choose to enable ‘Super Chat for Good,’ which will allow viewers to pay to have their messages boosted in livestream chats (as is the case with ‘Super Chat‘). With Super Chat for Good, however, money will go to the designated charity instead of the streamer. YouTube will help to increase the amount St. Jude will make from this September edition of Play Live by covering all transaction fees for the campaign.
“We’re so proud to be teaming up with YouTube creators to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is focused on better treatment, understanding, and resources for childhood cancer,” Kelly Merryman, vice president of content partnerships at YouTube, said in a statement. “Through this new collaboration, YouTube creators can help raise awareness and funds for St. Jude directly on YouTube, making it easier than ever for their communities to get involved.”
Another charitable event with YouTube stars (including Liza Koshy, Rhett & Link, and Hannah Hart) taking place this month is the Stand Up 2 Cancer telecast on September 7. Details about that altruistic digital entertainment endeavor are available on on Stand Up 2 Cancer’s website.
