Starting in 2014, Vinesauce, a group of wide variety streamers on twitch.tv, began their annual charity stream Vinesauce is Hope. Vinesauce is Hope team's traditional summer charity event that raises money for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF).
The team and viewers have raised over 1,000,000 for PCRF throughout the seven years they have done this event, making it possible for the foundation to receive better materials to help children fight cancer. Their access to grants have expanded from five to 32. More access to grants gets doctors more tools for diagnosis, healthier therapies, and cures for children. Each child gets a better chance at living with minimal side effects from cancer treatments.
Every year, the team decides on a theme for the event. Past themes include adventure, farming, and space. Each theme comes with a collection of merchandise that can be found on Fangamer.com. Half of all proceeds from items purchased goes directly to PCRF.
“If I told you that a child who is diagnosed with bone cancer, which is a very common form of cancer in young adolescents and adults, is treated with the exact same drugs today as they would have been back in the 1970’s, you would say ‘this is crazy,’” said Professor Alex Huang who works with Rainbow Babies & Children Hospital during an interview for the Vinesauce Is Hope Magazine.
“We are able to, with your support, really push forward research,” Huang said.
The 2021 charity event now over, Vinesauce is Hope has expanded into a nonprofit organization called “Variety is Hope,” hosting streams once a day to raise money for multiple charities and bring more hope to the world.