An elderly Walmart employee’s life changed completely after TikTok users raised more than $100,000 so he could retire.
Butch Marion, 82, was able to quit his job as a cashier at a supermarket in Cumberland, Maryland, thanks to the efforts of Rory McCarty, who posted a video of the worker on December 17, asking his supporters for help. McCarty’s video received more than 3.3 million views. Marion, a widower and US Navy veteran, said in other clips that he had been working since he was 11 and spent 10 years in the Navy.
Donations poured in at an incredible rate through a GoFundMe page created by McCarty, with donors expressing how inspired they were by Marion’s story. The page has already raised over $100,000 and more than 50,000 in the first 24 hours.
If McCarty originally gained popularity by sharing videos of his life running a bug extermination company, he was eager to use his platform for a good cause.
On his GoFundMe page, McCarty explained, “I wanted to help this Navy vet live out the rest of his years traveling to see his kids in Florida… And do the things he loves that he might not be able to do for financial reasons”.
“As a business owner and knowing how difficult it has been trying to find good help for my business, I was shocked to see this little older man still working eight to nine hour shifts,” McCarty said.
In a clip released by Fox 5 Washington, DC, Marion was seen leaving the store on her last day, holding balloons amid a crowd of cheering onlookers in the parking lot, and then receiving a check from McCarty. Marion has said that she would like to use the money to “go to Florida and see my kids” and “enjoy the last 10 or 12 years that I have.”
Marion is now the third Walmart employee to have received donations from social media users that have changed his life in recent months in what is quickly becoming a trend, he even has his own hashtag: #TikTokWalmartRetiree.
Just before Christmas, Carmen Kelly, 82, of Arizona, went viral after she was filmed by shopper Elizabeth Rizzo, who saw her on her shift at Walmart despite having to use a cane while working.
Kelly only had $50 in her bank account at the time Rizzo filmed her and had been struggling to pay her medical bills. TikTokers raised more than $135,000.
Before Kelly, Devan Bonagura posted a video of Nola, an 81-year-old Walmart employee, to TikTok on November 3. The original clip had more than 30 million views and users of the social network raised a total of $186,318 for the worker.