Twitch streamer Paul ‘Pestily’ Licari raises $1.2m for Starlight playing Escape From Tarkov

Paul Licari set himself a “crazy” goal for 2020, and he’s absolutely smashed it, delivering a huge boost for a charity helping sick kids.

Former Australian Army infantryman Paul “Pestily” Licari has made good on his promise to raise $1 million for the Starlight Foundation, and dropped off a cheque with an extra $240,000 tacked on too.

Mr Licari is a popular Twitch streamer, with more than 850,000 followers who tune in to watch him play games like the frightfully difficult Russian mil-sim Escape From Tarkov.

Then in 2020 he had a plan to do something “crazy” – raise $1 million for the Starlight Foundation.

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A streaming marathon brought the campaign past its $1 million goal.

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He hit the goal streaming himself gaming on Twitch, sometimes through fundraising marathons of up to 44 hours.

As Mr Licari told news.com.au last year, he picked the Starlight Foundation after the help it provided to the family of a friend whose younger sister died of cancer.

He pitched them the plan, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Foundation’s usual fundraising efforts through things like events and charity bike rides were all scuppered by the coronavirus pandemic.

He reached the $1 million mark in August last year, but kept streaming throughout the year, spending a total of 2300 hours (or roughly six hours a day, every day) streaming to raise a total of $1,240,327.76.

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Paul Licari (top L) dropped off the giant cheque last month.

He raised more than $1.2 million through Twitch.

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Last month he dropped off the customary giant novelty cheque to help support the more than 25,000 sick kids across Australia.

The money will go towards Starlight’s Express Rooms inside children’s hospitals.

The Express Rooms are designed to help children socialise and enjoy normal activities like creating art and playing video games.

“They become so intent on what they’re doing they can forget about the fact they have cancer, they’re undergoing chemo and have surgeries coming up, all that stuff,” Starlight CEO Louise Baxter told news.com.au last year.