Communications Alumnus Raises More than $8,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Communications+Alumnus+Raises+More+than+%248%2C000+for+St.+Jude+Children%E2%80%99s+Research+Hospital

Matt Crawford, a graduate of the University’s Communications Program, hosted a charity webstream on campus last month that raised $8,491 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Crawford, a 2017 graduate and popular YouTuber with 466,000 subscribers, hosted the eight-hour charity webstream at the Communications Media Center in Schwab Hall on Dec. 21.

The charity event was streamed over Crawford’s YouTube channel, “Tekking101,” which linked donors to a donation page.

It was the third charity webstream hosted by Crawford in as many years and all of them were conducted at Saint Francis. His previous charity streams benefited the Children’s Tumor Foundation and the Leukemia Research Foundation.

Crawford founded his Tekking101 channel in 2009. It focuses on discussions and theories on Japanese anime.

Anime is a style of Japanese animation that includes colorful art, with themes and styles similar to manga comics.

Two other YouTubers also contributed videos to Crawford’s charity webstream. The SFU alum was also assisted at the event by his mother, Karen Crawford, and a family friend, Traci Cook.

“I’m ecstatic that we managed to raise so much money for St. Jude,” said Crawford. “They require a lot of money to operate annually – around $1 billion worldwide – and any amount helps.”

Crawford is planning on conducting two charity webstreams in 2020.

“These events take a lot of work to plan and a laundry list of little things you have to account for, but it is an amazing feeling when it all comes together.”