+
“A balm for the soul”
  review on Goodreads
GOOD PEOPLE Book
upworthy

teen

Photo by Jeremy Wong on Unsplash

Teen raises $186,000 to help Walmart worker retire.

In America, many people have to work well past the age of retirement to make ends meet. While some of these people choose to work past retirement age because it keeps them active, some older people, like Nola Carpenter, 81, work out of necessity.

Carpenter has been working at Walmart for 20 years, way beyond most people's retirement age just so that she can afford to continue to pay her mortgage. When 19-year-old Devan Bonagura saw the woman looking tired in the break room of the store, he posted a video to his TikTok of Carpenter with a text overlay that said, "Life shouldn't b this hard..." complete with a sad face emoji.

In the video, Carpenter is sitting at a small table looking down and appearing to be exhausted. The caption of the video reads ":/ I feel bad." Turns out, a lot of other people did too, and encouraged the teen to start a GoFundMe, which has since completed.


The retirement age in the United States in order to collect Social Security benefits is 66, or 67 if you were born in or after 1960. But early retirement starts at 62 for reduced benefits. How many years you worked is a deciding factor in how much financial benefit you will receive from Social Security, with the average amount expected to be $1,827 a month in January 2023.

@dbon973_

WE LOVE YOU NOLA I HOPE THIS HELPS❤️🙏 #blowthisup #fyp #gofundme #nola #walmart #viralvideo

While that amount of money is nothing to scoff at, it's also not enough to live off of alone, especially for those who fall below the average amount. You also have to factor in Medicare premiums and tax withholdings that must come out of that figure. So it's no wonder that people over the age of 67 have to continue to work if they don't have adequate savings put away to retire on. The cost of living increases impact all age groups, including the elderly.

Thankfully for this elderly Walmart worker, the GoFundMe quickly exploded and raised $110,000 in just 24 hours. But when Bonagura went to give the money to Carpenter, she was grateful for the help but explained she would still need to work until the other $60,000 of her mortgage was paid off. This prompted users to give more to secure Carpenter's retirement.

In the end, the GoFundMe raised $186,000, which was enough to pay off the mortgage on the woman's house. Retirement is now on the horizon for the grandmother, who says she's set to retire on the first of the year. She wants to make sure she helps her co-workers get through the holiday season before hanging up her vest for good.

@dbon973_

Update video with Nola ❤️ #nola #dbon #gofundme #viral #blowthisup #love #kindness #givingback

As for Bonagura, he's currently suspended with pay due to him filming at the store and posting it to TikTok. While he wasn't an employee of Walmart, he worked for a cellphone carrier that operated sales inside the store. Nevertheless, Bonagura feels he did the right thing and is focused solely on making sure Carpenter gets to retire.

It's amazing what people can accomplish when they work together. Happy retirement, Nola! Here's to hoping you enjoy every minute of it.

More

After getting sick, this 15-year-old missed her favorite band — until they surprised her.

After playing an amphitheater the night before, the rock band stopped to visit a fan.

On Thursday night, rock band Florence and the Machine played to a packed crowd at the Austin360 Amphitheater in Austin, Texas.

As usual, lead singer Florence Welch wowed the audience with her theatrics and powerful voice.

But something was missing.


Photo by Mauricio Santana/Getty Images.

A 15-year-old girl at nearby Hospice Austin's Christopher House was confined to her bed and unable to attend the concert.

She and her best friend had long planned to attend that night's Florence and the Machine concert. Unfortunately, she landed in hospice and was too weak to make it.

She was crushed, but good news was right around the corner.

The day after the band's Austin concert, Welch and guitarist Rob Ackroyd decided to make that 15-year-old's dream come true — with a private concert.

It's not every day you go from performing in front of thousands of people to joining just a roomful of people in song and celebration — but that's exactly what Welch and Ackroyd did. At the hospice, the two played through songs such as "Shake It Out" and "Dog Days Are Over," with Welch holding the patient's hand and focusing her energy.

Even watching the video takes you into this sort of otherworldly, joyous experience.

Photo via Hospice Austin's Christopher House/YouTube.

There were smiles, there were tears, and above all, there was love filling that room.

Welch was even pretty impressed with the harmonies being sung by some of the visitors.

GIFs via Hospice Austin's Christopher House.

And of course, there was clapping.

In a Facebook post, Hospice Austin nurse Lev Baesh remarked on the experience of being in that room.

"I spend half of my days exhausted after working the other half as a hospice nurse. Today, I dragged myself back to the hospice house after three 12+ hour shifts to witness a gift."

And what a wonderful gift it was.

It was a reminder that no matter how dark the world seems at times, there are moments of great beauty and love sprinkled throughout. When times get tough, remember those moments because they give great hope.

You can watch Florence Welch and her new friends sing "Shake It Out" in the video below.