Ms. Rachel Launched A Cameo Fundraiser & Raised $50,000 In Hours

If you have a baby, toddler, or preschooler, there’s a very good chance you know Rachel Accurso, better known to the world as Ms. Rachel, the perpetually chipper social media star known for simple videos meant to help her “little ones” meet important language and learning milestones. With nearly 10 million subscribers on YouTube alone, it would be easy for the children’s entertainment icon to rest on her laurels, but Ms. Rachel is determined to do good as she’s doing well.

Just yesterday, Accurso took to Instagram — a platform that caters more to her fans’ parents, to share an idea she had: “Messages of Love To Children For Children.” The idea is that she will go on Cameo to make videos for children, and all the money on her end would go toward Save The Children’s Emergency Fund to support little ones living in conflict zones like Gaza, Ukraine, Democratic People’s Republic of Congo, and Sudan, among others.

That same day, Accurso had a meeting with Cameo. Shortly after that, she was on the platform. “I’m so excited to talk to my precious friends!” she wrote. The campaign, which strives to help children around the world through entertaining others with personalized messages, was ultimately titled “Messages for Littles to Help Littles,” and in just a few hours, “Ms. Rachel” sold an impressive 500 Cameos for fans (presumably mostly children though she graciously offered to make a Cameo for folks of all ages). At $100 each, she raised $50,000.

While Cameos from Ms. Rachel are paused for now to allow her to film all 500, she assures folks that she will be back on to raise more funds once she’s done, noting that you can follow her Cameo page and receive a notification for when she’s ready to handle more requests. She also hopes to raise awareness of children’s rights.

“Children have fundamental human rights,” she said in an Instagram message. “Water food medical care shelter protection from violence, education. These rights are being violated and these violations need to stop.”

The situation is indeed grim, nearly 2,000 children have been killed in Ukraine since the escalation of hostilities with Russia. In Sudan, more than 190 children have been killed just since April 23. Conflict between the government in the Democratic Republic of Congo and non-state actors M23 has displaced 78,000 children. In Gaza, child death tolls are hard to establish due to what the United Nations calls “the fog of war,” but any estimate— which currently range between 7,800 and more than 15,000 — are a tragedy.

This is not the first time Accurso has used her platform to effect positive change. Earlier this month she announced plans to travel to Washington, D.C. to advocate for issues like affordable childcare, adequate parental leave, and accessible, quality early-childhood education.

Honestly, we didn’t think it got more wholesome than Ms. Rachel’s sing-songy videos but this is next level heart-warming.