Photo: @dbon973_ / TikTok
Just in time for giving season!
By Megan Quinn — Written on Nov 23, 2022
Giving season is right around the corner, and now is the time to engage in acts of kindness to help those in need.
One man on TikTok did just that after he noticed an elderly employee struggling to make ends meet to pay off her house mortgage.
Wanting to help the woman out, the man posted a video on TikTok which quickly gained the attention of millions.
The Walmart worker launched a fundraiser after a video of his elderly coworker went viral.
Devan Bonagura (@dbon973_) recorded the video that has since generated 4.5 million likes in the break room of a Walmart store.
The video depicts an elderly employee named Nola sitting in a chair, appearing exhausted and drained.
She struggles to catch her breath after long working hours as Bonagura helplessly watches on.
“Life shouldn’t be this hard,” Bonagura wrote in a textbox over the video. “I feel bad,” he added in the caption.
Many TikTok viewers were heartbroken by the video and offered to help Nola in any way they could.
“Gosh, I’m crying at work… I would go sit with her and ask how her day has been. The older people in the USA are often forgotten sadly,” one user commented.
“THIS is who our money should be going to, our seniors and veterans in our country. We must take care of them!” one user urged.
Bonagura set up a GoFundMe page for Nola.
After being encouraged by TikTok users to raise funds for the elderly employee, Bonagura launched a GoFundMe page where all proceeds would be given to her.
“Let’s help Nola retire,” the page was titled. The goal was to raise $100,000.
“Nola works at Walmart and that says enough. Let’s all come together and help,” the fundraiser page reads.
To Bonagura’s pleasant surprise, $100,000 was raised in less than 24 hours after the page went live.
He shared the happy news in a follow-up TikTok video.
Bonagura was able to get in touch with Nola’s daughter about the GoFundMe page to ensure that every penny went to her mother.
She thanks him for all of his efforts. “Of course, this was my original end goal for this,” he tells her.
Bonagura and Nola finally met a couple of days after the video was posted in a heartwarming interaction.
Bonagura informs her of the success of the GoFundMe page. “A lot of supporters that started following me are trying to help you retire,” he says.
“They saw that you’re a hard worker, obviously, and we are all super proud of you and we wanted to offer you $110,000 that has been raised for you if you’re willing to accept it.”
Nola shared that she was working at Walmart to pay off her mortgage.
Nola graciously accepted the money but shared that she would still have to work until she earned another $70,000 to pay off the mortgage on her home.
She revealed her plans to retire as soon as she received all the funds necessary.
As for Bonagura, he unfortunately shared with viewers that he was suspended by Walmart as a result of posting the video from the breakroom.
Bonagura did not work as an employee directly for Walmart, but for a third-party company selling phones.
In the meantime, he is focusing on helping those like Nola for the holidays.
He posted a follow-up video chatting with the elderly woman, where it was revealed that over $181,000 was raised for her and she could comfortably retire and pay off her mortgage.
“I wanted to thank everyone around the world who donated,” Nola said.
She added that while she is happy to be retiring and relaxing after the holiday season, she will miss her customers at Walmart.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.