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Influencer Raises $1.5 Million To Help 88-Year-Old Army Veteran Retire From His Grocery Store Job
The power of social media and the internet on display In the many stories that I’ve written, I’ve often touched on the negative aspects of social media. The disconnection, the overwhelming negative discourse, and the consistent comparison that people put themselves through… sometimes you wonder if it’s all even worth it? But then you see a story like this, and not only does it give you the feeling that social media’s existence garners some positivity, it also lets you know […] The post Influencer Raises $1.5 Million To Help 88-Year-Old Army Veteran Retire From His Grocery Store Job first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
The power of social media and the internet on display
In the many stories that I’ve written, I’ve often touched on the negative aspects of social media. The disconnection, the overwhelming negative discourse, and the consistent comparison that people put themselves through… sometimes you wonder if it’s all even worth it?
But then you see a story like this, and not only does it give you the feeling that social media’s existence garners some positivity, it also lets you know that there are still plenty of good people in this world. Though we might hear more about the bad apples than the good ones, there are still plenty of good apples.
One of them goes by the name of Samuel Wiedenhofer. He’s an Australian influencer that uses his platform to help others, and he most recently shined a light on 88-year-old Army veteran Ed Bambas. The older gentlemen was still working at a Meijer grocery store because he had lost his pension when General Motors went bankrupt, and was forced to use much of his savings to help to his ailing wife, who passed away around seven years ago.
Bambas said that he had no other choice but to sell his house and property that he owned to make ends meet, and was still working late into his 80s because there wasn’t another financial option. Of course, GM was bailed out by the federal government as part of the whole “too big to fail” thing, and wound up raiding their pension savings to pay out severance checks when they dramatically downsized the company. These days, GM still turning out billions in profit (over 7 BILLION in net profit in Q3), but ol’ Ed never got that pension back once they got on their feet.
The influencer interviewed him at his place of work, and then encouraged his followers to listen to Ed’s story and donate money to help him retire.
Here’s the powerful video that went viral below:
“I want to live the life I was hoping for.”
Who is cutting onions in here?
A GoFundMe was set up for Ed Bambas that was titled “88 & Still Working: Let’s Support Veteran Ed Bambas.” People that viewed the video were directed to that page, which gave a little bit more insight on the Army veteran’s life, and how donations could help:
There’s no doubt that Ed Bambas deserves to live out the life that he hoped for.
The masses agreed, because in under two days (specifically under 36 hours), over $1 million dollars was collected by the GoFundMe. Samuel Wiedenhofer took to his social media to celebrate the moment, and once again highlight the 88-year-old that was in need of financial assistance.
He got that assistance and then some:
According to the New York Post, the GoFundMe, the total number has now exceeded $1.5 million. Ed Bambas is expected to be gifted that money in it’s entirety at a ceremony at his workplace on Friday, December 5. And it’ll be a surprise… apparently the veteran still has no idea about the money that has been raised.
Always great to see the internet come together to do something good.The post Influencer Raises $1.5 Million To Help 88-Year-Old Army Veteran Retire From His Grocery Store Job first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
