Woman, 92, working as shop worker to pay bills receives over $90,000 in donations
It's perfectly understandable if you already have a dim view of 2026 so far.
But this is a story that will warm your soul and reinvigorate your faith in humanity.
A struggling 92-year-old from Florida, who had to return to work after retirement, got a huge boost this month after raking in an incredible $94,928 from donations from kind-hearted friends in the community.
Muriel Connick was manning the dressing room at a Burlington store in Pompano Beach, a stone's throw away from Fort Lauderdale, when she was spotted by customer April Steele.
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Speaking to WKYT, April said: "There was no smile on her face. In fact she looked angry, I thought I would compliment her to try to make her smile, I said good for you to still be working, she looked at me angrily and said would you want to work at 92.
"My heart sank, she said her pension and food stamps have been cut and she had no choice. I almost felt tears coming."
Muriel said that she had been forced to get back to work at a store as bills were mounting.
Costs from 'the rent, car payment, car insurance, telephone, electricity and cable' were all adding up, leaving her with no other solution but to get back to work.
She added that her social security and other benefits came nowhere near to covering her costs. As if things couldn't get worse, Muriel desperately needed some renovations to her mobile home, which included a costly new floor. Her current flooring was apparently falling apart and lifting, making it unsuitable for the elderly woman.
April came to the rescue after her chat with Muriel, and alerted a local Facebook page sharing Muriel's struggles.
She set up a GoFundMe, which is approaching an incredible $100,000 dollars, as the community have rallied around her cause. Hopefully, that's more than enough for Muriel to enjoy a beautiful retirement in South Florida, where she lives.
Posting to the GoFundMe, one of her fellow employees said Muriel is 'nice and incredibly strong'.
"I worked with Muriel for almost 2 years and I can not even begin to describe how nice and incredibly strong she is," they continued.
The co-worker added that Muriel always goes above and beyond, putting the clothes out on the floor of the shop.
They also said that Muriel recently tried to obtain financial help from her job to fix the pipes under her home causing the flooring issues, but was denied assistance. It is unclear why this was the case.
They said: "I helped her complete an application to the assistance fund through Burlington because her pipes are broken under her trailer and it's causing the the floors to break which is a major falling hazard for her. She was unfortunately denied that help."
Speaking to CBS 12, Muriel said she had been in awe of people's donations, saying: "People have been so generous.
"I was really surprised, and I didn’t know she was going to do all this.
“I thought she was just going to give me a card and say, ‘This is to help you.’"
Not a lot of stories finish with a happy ending, but Muriel and April have struck up a soul-soothing friendship. The pair were seen celebrating together when the donations were announced, so hopefully all's well that ends well in Muriel's world.
April said she hoped her new friend will not only be able to fix her home, but also retire soon with the funds that have been raised.
So, maybe there's hope for us yet!
You can donate to this great cause by clicking here.
The UNILAD Team