Aussie online gaming couple raise $1.2 million for children's charity

Paul 'Pestily' Licari has been a professional online gamer for years, but contrary to what you may think, it can be hard work.

"I've been playing video games majority of my life," he tells 9Honey.

Licari, 34, who grew up in Geelong, served in the army for eight years until his early twenties and found the social aspect of online gaming helped him re-establish connections with others.

"After leaving the army in 2017 I didn't have close friends so I turned to online," he says. "Streaming on Twitch helped me build friendship and create a community, which was a drawcard for me."

A typical day starts at 4am when he'll game live until midday.

"At lunchtime I nap for about an hour because after live streaming I'm exhausted," he explains. "After that I have meetings, then dinner, then I work on YouTube content until bedtime. It's a good routine really."

Even his wife is part of the 'family business', working to help build the brand and more recently, to give back to the community and in particular children in need.

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It was his wife Cristina, 30, who suggested they use the incredible following he'd built up to raise money for the Starlight Children's Foundation through a live streaming event.

They'd participated in previous fundraisers but found it was the live events that had the most impact.

"We hadn't done much charity work on the live stream before but we thought we'd give it a go and raised $26,00 in a matter of a week or two. It was a bit of a 'holy sh-t' moment. So we decided to do something bigger."

The couple chose Starlight Children's Foundation as the recipient of their next fundraising effort after Licari's experience watching his best friend's sister battle bowel cancer.

"The family were very involved with Starlight during her treatment," he recalls. The little girl ultimately passed away but Licari never forgot what they did for his friend's family.

"So I made a phone call to Starlight and told them I wanted to raise a million bucks for them."

And that's exactly what he did, and then some.

Licari went live with the fundraiser on January 1 and after 2,300 hours of live streaming on Twitch raised $1.2 million for the Starlight Children's Foundation.

He has just handed over the cheque to the organisation and he and Cristina are already planning their next fundraiser.

"We'll continue supporting Starlight with more charity events this year," he says. "We want to stage more big events and have more of an impact that way. The whole premise is we believe in paying it forward.

"Presenting Starlight with this money, knowing it is going to better the lives of so many sick children across the country, is a special moment and humbling experience. I thank my incredibly generous community who joined me for over 2,300 hours of livestreaming on Twitch in 2020, as it is their donations that has made this possible," he said.

"I cannot wait to see what we achieve together this year!" 

Find out more about the Starlight Children's Foundation by visiting the website.