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Gabriella Ferlita
A TikTok user has raised over $170,000 for an elderly Walmart worker so that she can afford to retire.
We’re all feeling the pinch right now with our finances, but one elderly woman has captured the hearts of the internet for working hard at the grocery store to make ends meet instead of kicking back and enjoying her golden years.
But when content creator Devan Bonagura (@dbon973_) told fellow TikTokers that he 'felt bad’ for the woman, named Nola, donations began rolling in.
Devan shared a 15-second video of Nola at work on 3 November.
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In the clip, Nola is seen dressed in her Walmart uniform, with a vest and nametag, in the staff room on her break.
Devan wrote: “Life shouldn’t be this hard,” before adding: “I feel bad.”
The video quickly went viral and racked up over 26.2 million views, while many onlookers urged the video creator to launch a GoFundMe for the woman so that they could donate.
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Devan soon set up a fundraising page to raise, writing: “Let’s help Nola retire.”
He added in the GoFundMe description: “Nola works at Walmart and that says enough. Let’s all come together and help.”
However, his generosity did not come without backlash, as he claimed that Walmart had threatened police action should he not take down the video and GoFundMe page.
He claimed to his followers: “So, I told them: ‘Do what you gotta do, because I’m getting this money to this woman one way or another.”
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UNILAD has contacted a representative of Walmart for a comment on the matter.
This certainly didn’t foil Devan’s plans, though, as one day after he posted the original video, the TikTok star found Nola and handed over the money which he raised in just 24 hours.
He told the store employee: “They saw that you’re a very hard worker, obviously.
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“We are all super proud of you, and we wanted to offer you the $110,000 that has been raised for you.”
Responding to the lad, Nola said she would gladly accept the money, but would "still have to work until I get the other $70,000 or $60,000 paid off the house".
She did add that the donation would make a huge difference to her mortgage, though, saying: “It won’t take long now with all that money."
Nola also said that she would retire as soon as she earns enough money to pay it off: “That’s what’s holding me at work — the house.”
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However, as of 10 November, Devan’s GoFundMe has reached over $172,000 - hopefully enough for Nola to quit her job for good.