AKRON, OHIO: Front row: St. Baldrick’s Honored Kids Back row (L to R): Nolan Hansen, Member of “Beast Gang”, Tareq Salameh, Member of “Beast Gang”, LeBron James, Jimmy (MrBeast) Donaldson. Photo Courtesy of the LeBron James Family Foundation. (Courtesy: Beast Philanthropy)
MrBeast has launched his largest philanthropic campaign yet, partnering with Stand Up To Cancer, Amgen and St. Baldrick’s Foundation to fund pediatric cancer research. The effort centers on a new YouTube video titled I Helped 100 Kids Fight Cancer, which premiered today on MrBeast’s main channel to more than 500 million subscribers.
The campaign supports an upcoming SU2C Pediatric Cancer Dream Team, bringing together leading scientists across multiple disciplines to accelerate research into cancers affecting children, adolescents and young adults. Jimmy Donaldson, known globally as MrBeast, said more than 105,000 children lose their lives to cancer each year worldwide. He described the effort as one built on the combined work of doctors, researchers, volunteers and organizations working toward better outcomes.
How LeBron James and other stars joined the effort
LeBron James and his foundation played a central role in the video. MrBeast and James surprised six local St. Baldrick’s Honored Kids and other pediatric cancer survivors at the LeBron James Family Foundation’s I PROMISE School in Akron, Ohio. The group shot hoops with James and watched a head-to-head shootout between him and MrBeast.
James then gave MrBeast access to his foundation’s House Three Thirty, where the group took part in activities before touring the world’s only LeBron James museum and sharing a family meal together. James said it meant a great deal to give these children a day focused purely on fun and connection.
The video also featured children attending the premiere of the live-action Moana, meeting Dwayne Johnson, cooking with chef Christina Tosi, attending a Stray Kids performance and catching a football thrown by a Pittsburgh Steelers player. MrBeast also visited Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where he helped a young patient ring the bell marking the end of treatment and spoke with the hospital’s pediatrician-in-chief about the ongoing need for research funding.
Why the campaign centers on scientific research
For the video’s 100th wish, one child chose not to ask for anything for himself. Instead, he asked MrBeast to help organize a blood drive to support other cancer patients. MrBeast honored that request by hosting a community blood drive in his hometown of Greenville, North Carolina, aiming to help save 1,000 lives. Physician and online health educator Doctor Mike co-hosted the event alongside him.
Childhood cancer survivor Emily Whitehead attended the blood drive. She became the first child in the world to receive a pioneering cell therapy that reprogrammed her own immune cells to fight cancer when she was six. She and her family later founded the Emily Whitehead Foundation to advance access to similar therapies worldwide.
What organizations behind the campaign are saying
SU2C President and CEO Julian Adams said a child is diagnosed with cancer somewhere in the world every two minutes. He expressed gratitude for MrBeast’s global reach and its potential to bring new hope to affected families. Amgen CEO Robert Bradway said combining strong science with committed partners creates the best conditions for real medical breakthroughs.
St. Baldrick’s CEO Kathleen Ruddy said children with cancer cannot afford to wait for progress, pointing to previous research success achieved through team collaboration. She thanked MrBeast directly for using his platform to bring global attention to childhood cancer.
Those interested in supporting the campaign can visit www.StandUpToCancer.org/
About the Author
