A fundraising drive on TikTok has garnered more than $180,000. This will help an older Walmart employee pay off her mortgage and retire. Devan Bonagura posted a TikTok video showing an elderly woman sitting alone in the Walmart break room for 15 seconds. She was wearing a Walmart uniform with a nametag and a vest. “Life shouldn’t be this stressful. “I’m sorry,” adds Devan’s TikTok caption.
On the popular social networking app, the poignant video has received over 24.1 million views. Devan had no idea the video would become so popular so quickly. Some even pushed him to launch a GoFundMe campaign to assist the woman. His viewers were not disappointed since he set up a GoFundMe page for her right away. “Let’s help Nola retire,” states the description. Nola works at Walmart, which pretty much says it all.
Let us all pitch in and lend a hand.” His viewers were not disappointed since he set up a GoFundMe page for her right away. “Let’s help Nola retire,” states the description. Nola works at Walmart, which pretty much says it all. Let us all pitch in and lend a hand.” In under 24 hours, it had raised more than $100,000. On November 5, Devan tweeted a video of himself meeting Nola for the account transfer.
“They obviously saw that you’re a very hard worker,” he explained to the woman. “We are all extremely proud of you, and we wanted to present you with the $110,000 that has been raised for you,” Nola said she’d take it, but she needed to work to save another $60,000 to pay off her mortgage. She agreed that the money would be useful, and that saving for her mortgage would no longer take her so long.
Walmart employees earn an average of $19 per hour, so it will most certainly take Nola several years to earn the extra $60,000.Nola also stated that she intends to retire after her mortgage is paid off. “The house is what keeps me going to work,” she explained. Despite this, she was resolved to work hard in order to retire and enjoy the remainder of her life free of financial obligations. She was thankful to everyone who assisted in lightening her weight.
Unfortunately, Walmart, which was heavily attacked as a result of the video, did not miss Devan’s gesture of charity. “They’re getting a lot of backlash, so they told me I needed to delete the video and the fundraising page, and return all the money to the people who donated it, or they’re going to call the cops,” he was quoted as saying in a video. “So I told them to do whatever they had to do because I’m going to get this money to this woman one way or another,” he said.
Devan also informed his audience that his employee had placed him on paid leave. As of November 10, Devan’s GoFundMe campaign had received more than $172,000, which should be enough for Nola to pay off her mortgage and retire. Devan garnered 132k followers after sharing Nola’s video, and despite the hurdles and criticism from some of his viewers, he did not stop helping others and donating, which he also shared on social media. One of these was a $500 gratuity for a cup of water to a waitress.
Devan recently shared a video of his conversation with Nola in order to update viewers on the woman’s current situation. When asked how she was doing, she said she was fine and was grateful for Devan’s assistance. Nola also stated that she will retire on January 1st and leave Walmart after working there for 20 years. She also thanked everyone on TikTok who helped with fundraising, spreading the word, and donating.
Finally, she left Devan a lovely message and best wishes. “I just want to make sure you do well and get what you want, and I hope it works out that way.”Here’s a quick video of Nola taking a break at Walmart: