Gaming streamer DrLupo aims to raise a record-setting $10 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
DrLupo (aka Ben Lupo) has been fundraising for St. Jude since 2017, both by participating in the hospital’s annual PLAY LIVE event (where hundreds of streamers spend the month of May urging their followers to donate) and by hosting his own annual 24-hour #BuildAgainstCancer live streams.
Lupo’s first #BuildAgainstCancer stream, held in 2018, raised $611,000. His second almost quadrupled that amount, raising $2.3 million from 13,000 people and setting the bar for most money raised by a single content creator in 24 hours for St. Jude.
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The 2020 iteration of #BuildAgainstCancer also raised $2.3 million, including a $1 million donation from Twitch, Lupo’s home platform at the time. (He signed an exclusive livestreaming deal with YouTube Gaming this past August.)
To date, Lupo and his wife Samantha–aka MrsDrLupo—have raised around $9.6 million for the organization, a St. Jude spokesperson tells Tubefilter.
With this year’s #BuildAgainstCancer stream, slated to broadcast from his YouTube channel (1.82 million subscribers) Dec. 18, Lupo hopes to raised enough money to push his cumulative total over $10 million. He also hopes to break his own record for most money raised by a single donor in 24 hours–meaning he must raise at least $2.3 million.
If his followers donate enough to bring him over the $10 million marker, Lupo will be the first content creator to raise that milestone amount for St. Jude.
Like previous #BuildAgainstCancer streams, this year’s will see Lupo go live for a full 24 hours. The stream will include some gameplay (he raised to prominence playing Fortnite, but his usual fare these days is first-person shooters like Escape from Tarkov and Apex Legends) plus a rotating roster of guests.
Lupo hasn’t yet revealed who will join him. Last year’s stream included appearances from Lupo’s son Charlie, Ninja, Robbie Amell, Mark Hoppus, CourageJD, Paul Scheer, Taran Killam, Felicia Day, Rahul Kohli, Mike Shinoda, Matt Mercer, Gary Whitta, Penny Arcade, NickMercs, BigCheeseKit, AnneMunition, lilsimsie, luxiegames, frisk, and brickinnick.
“We’re incredibly grateful for our friend DrLupo–a champion of our cause who helps us raise awareness about the impact of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital when talking with his fans and other content creators from around the world,” Richard C. Shadyac Jr., president and CEO of St. Jude’s fundraising arm ALSAC, tells Tubefilter. “DrLupo is truly invested in our lifesaving mission as demonstrated by his previous visits to St. Jude and time spent with our families facing cancer and other catastrophic diseases.”
Shadyac adds that the “generosity of DrLupo’s family and the gaming community is helping fuel the six-year, $11.5 billion St. Jude strategic plan that triples its global investment to impact more of the 400,000 kids who get cancer around the world each year.”
Lupo’s 2021 #BuildAgainstCancer stream will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern Dec. 18.
