A 19-year-old TikToker raised $186,000 for an 81-year-old Walmart employee so she can finally pay off her mortgage and enjoy her retirement.
Devan Bonagura from New Jersey took to the social media platform and shared a video of 81-year-old Nola Carpenter sitting in the break room at Walmart in Hackettstown.
He wrote over the video: “Life shouldn’t be this hard.”
The heartbreaking clip has been viewed over 30 million times since it was shared on November 2, prompting Bonagura to set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the Walmart worker’s retirement.
In another video, the teen claimed that the Walmart manager asked him to delete the video and remove the fundraiser as the chain was allegedly receiving threats.
“They’re getting a lot of backlash, so they told me I need to delete the video and delete the GoFundMe and return all the money to the people that donated it, or they’re going to get the cops involved,” Bonagura said.
“So, I told them to do what you have to do because I’m getting this money to this woman one way or another.”
Bonagura, who was working for a third-party vendor that sells items inside Walmart, said he was suspended by his employer.
But he insisted that it was worth it after he managed to raise $110,000 for Carpenter in just a day.
Carpenter broke down in tears as she shared her gratitude for the donations, saying the money will help her mortgage go ‘way down.’
But she said that she still needed to work until she earns $60,000 more to pay off the house.
The fundraiser then reached more than $186,000, more than what she needed to finally retire.
“I feel good and I’m thankful for Devan for what he’s done or none of this would have been possible,” Carpenter expressed.
“That’s what I was working at Walmart for, to pay my house off.”
Carpenter said she will continue to work for the retail giant as the busy holiday season begins and retire next year.
“I’m going to help them out for the holidays,” she said, adding that she will miss seeing their regular customers.
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