Project For Awesome Charity Videos Overtake YouTube, Raise $64,000 For Causes (SLIDESHOW)
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In an effort to "decrease suck," brothers Hank and John Green inspired YouTube-ers to flood the site with feel-good shorts about their favorite charities and raise $64,000 in just two days.
The fifth annual Project For Awesome campaign kicked off Saturday, and enabled participants to upload their homemade videos about their favorite causes, which were streamed live for 24 hours. They raised awareness for a range of causes, from finding a cure for cancer to buying desks for school children in Malawi.
The five causes that bring in the most votes will get 20 percent of the funds that were raised.
"It's nice once a year to use this platform...to go beyond just doing awesome things and work to decrease sucky things as well," co-founder Hank Green said on the organization's website.
The videos pull at heartstrings, but not in a usual way.
The London Cinderella Project, a nonprofit that provides dresses for low-income high schools going to prom, offers viewers a slow and steady close up of a young woman getting ready for her big night.
"This charity will not change the world," says Emilie of the London Cinderella Project. "But it can touch the life of an impressionable young woman."
To inspire cancer awareness, "Screw Cancer With Birthdays," asks passersby which age they're looking forward to most. One woman is excited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of her 21st birthday. Another guy says he can't wait for 30 since he’s been 29 for a few years now.
The producer, Bing Chen, dedicated the video to his dad who died from cancer and is raising money for the American Cancer Society.
As competitors eagerly wait for the winning announcement Friday, they can look to winners' past for inspiration on how to spend their charitable prize. Last year, Josh Sundquist raised $10,000 so that 6-year-old Taylor Miriam, who suffers from about 16 seizures a day, could get a service dog. The pet can sense when Taylor is about to seize and can get her the help she needs.
“This is my new dog, Heaven. He helps me sniff out seizures,” Taylor said in Sundquist’s follow up video. “Thank you for helping me get him. I love you.”
Watch a few of the many inspiring videos and learn how you can get involved.
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The Huffington Post Eleanor Goldberg First Posted: 12/19/11 01:01 PM ET Updated: 12/20/11 02:34 AM ET