Credit: The Loadout

Jimmy Donaldson– or MrBeast, as he is known on YouTube– is known for taking on massive and often peculiar projects. To get an idea of his odd antics, his most viewed videos include, “I Put 100 Million Orbeez in My Friend’s Backyard,” “Spending 24 Hours Straight Under Water Challenge,” and “Destroying My Friend’s Car and Surprising Him with a New One.”

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While his videos may be strange and exist for a cheap laugh, there is a large chunk of them that involve a hint of philanthropy. He is known for extreme videos, certainly, but MrBeast may be even more well known from the way he gives money away to friends, causes, and even strangers. Videos like “Tipping a Waitress With Real Gold Bars,” “I Opened the World’s First FREE Store,” and “Giving $10,000 to Random People and Saying Nothing” combine MrBeast’s grand challenges with his genuine, giving spirit.

Recently, MrBeast reached 20 million subscribers (you read that right). While many YouTubers would take this chance to thank their subscribers and treat themselves to something extravagant, MrBeast had a different thank-you in mind. To honor his 20 million subscribes, MrBeast has vowed to plant 20 million trees by 2020.

With the help of friends and nearby subscribers, MrBeast was able to plant over 1600 trees in two days. Naturally, this isn’t anywhere close to his 20 million goal, but MrBeast has a plan. Through partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation, MrBeast has vowed to plant one tree for every dollar donated by 2020. He jump-started the charity by donating $100,000 of his own money to teamtrees.org, a website he developed with the Arbor Day Foundation.

“We only have one earth, and it’s important we take care of it,” MrBeast says in his promotional video. “Recently, lots of not so great things have been happening to our forests, and people just keep making fun of our generation for retweet activism and not actually doing something. …This is your chance to make a difference.”

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Word of MrBeast’s cause has reached the ears of the likes of Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, and others. As a result, over 14 million dollars have been donated to #TeamTrees. MrBeast and the Arbor Day Foundation are just over five million dollars away from their goal, which closes on January 1, 2020.

Some pessimists say 20 million trees won’t really make a difference considering all the damage we’ve done to our natural resources. Others are proud to see a young man actively making a difference in the world with the resources he’s built himself– something not many people can be proud of.

If you want to make a difference too, go to teamtrees.org to donate.