YouTuber raises $10 million for charity with one livestream
YouTuber Jacksepticeye succeeded in raising a staggering $10 million for charity during a 'Thankmas' livestream featuring guests such as Jack Black.
Over the course of 10 years in the business, Seán William McLoughlin, aka Jacksepticeye, has managed to secure a fanbase of 28.9 million subscribers and established himself as a big name in YouTube gaming alongside the likes of PewDiePie.
His channel has racked up billions of views, and this weekend he went live with his 'Thankmas' event to raise money for the charity World Central Kitchen.
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The livestream featured appearances from fellow YouTuber and gamer Markiplier, as well as internet personality Valkyrae and School of Rock star Black, who performed some epic dance moves while a barbershop quartet performed Christmas songs.
Black sat down to chat with the YouTuber about seven hours into the 10-hour livestream, where the pair discussed their previous meeting and played some games in a segment tentatively titled a 'Jack-off'.
The entire stream consisted of food, music and more games, and all the while the YouTuber kept accepting donations.
As the livestream neared its end, the YouTuber had raised more than $5.6 million when he invited on Michael Wasserman, CEO of Tiltify, a peer-to-peer fundraising platform for livestreams.
Wasserman congratulated Jacksepticeye on his hard work, and explained that a donor had kindly gifted $3.7 million to push the YouTuber to reach his goal of $10 million. With smaller donations still flooding in, the YouTuber succeeded in reaching the goal.
The total raised is enough to pay for 3.5 million meals through World Central Kitchen, and prompted the YouTuber to start crying as he admitted he would have been shocked to raise just $2 million.
"Thank you, everyone. Now I am crying... Jesus Christ... Thank you everyone who helps out every year with this. We try and put it on with the best efforts every year... but it always blows past my expectations every year," Jacksepticeye said.
He praised World Central Kitchen for its 'sensational' work, and thanked all the guests who had showed up to help keep viewers entertained over the lengthy livestream, describing the Thankmas as 'the best one we've done'.
World Central Kitchen describes itself as being 'first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises'.
The charity is currently working in Ukraine to deliver food amid the ongoing war with Russia, and recently delivered nearly 200 tons of food to flooded villages in Pakistan.
Topics: YouTube, Food and Drink, Charity, Money, Viral
Emily Brown