Kindness Influencer Raises Over $250K For 75-Year-Old Cashier Who Is Being Evicted
Oscar M Sanchez | Shutterstock Retirement used to be a sort of promise people could cling to. Now, though, it feels more like an illusion. Retirement is something that is technically still supposed to work in our society, but it rarely happens that way.
According to a report from the National Council on Aging, 19 million, or 45% of older adults, do not have enough money to cover essential cost-of-living expenses. People just can’t afford to retire anymore, which means they’re still working at older and older ages. Thankfully, there are some good people out there trying to help.
An influencer who loves to help people came across someone who really needed support at Dollar Tree.
TikTok creator Samuel Weidenhofer, who is known as a kindness influencer, makes content all about helping others. He regularly shares videos of people who are in need in some way and works to raise money for them on GoFundMe. Little did he know that a quick trip to Dollar Tree would give him an opportunity to do what he does best.
During his stop at the convenience store to pick up a snack, he met a cashier named Sandy. He struck up a conversation with her. “Can I ask why you’re working at this age?” he asked. “‘Cause I can’t afford not to,” she responded. Weidenhofer asked Sandy how old she was, and she told him she was 75. Sensing Weidenhofer was a safe person to open up to, she added, “I’m evicted … I have to get out of my apartment.”
“Oh my gosh,” Weidenhofer said with dismay. He asked if she was married, which she had another heartbreaking answer for. “No, he’s deceased,” she shared. “He died at … 45-years-old of drugs.” When Weidenhofer pointed out what a “hard life” Sandy had lived, she simply replied, “I’m here.”
Weidenhofer jumped into action to help Sandy.
He did what he could to brighten Sandy’s day by giving her a bouquet of flowers. Weidenhofer continued, “I wanna put some money towards your rent … That’s a few hundred dollars for you.” After handing her the money, he added, “I’m gonna open a fundraiser to help you retire and to not get evicted.”
Sandy was in tears at this point. She couldn’t believe Weidenhofer’s kindness, especially with how she has been treated over the years. “I never had nothing like that before,” she said. “‘Cause my family don’t help me. They don’t have nothing to do with me.” After revealing she had been working at Dollar Tree for about two years, Sandy, whose shirt was emblazoned with the word “optimistic,” was given a hug by Weidenhofer. “I haven’t hugged nobody in a long time,” she said.
Weidenhofer did start a fundraiser for Sandy on GoFundMe, which he shared with his 7.7 million TikTok followers, plus the over 30 million people who viewed the video. As of right now, he has raised $250,436 for her.
Unfortunately, Sandy’s story isn’t an isolated incident.
USA Today reporter Medora Lee stated that, according to Census data, seniors are the only age group in which poverty is rising. In 2024, 9.9% of senior citizens lived in poverty. Some reasons for this include having to serve as and pay for caregivers, lack of access to affordable healthcare, and cuts to government assistance programs.
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Ramsey Alwin, the president and CEO of the National Council on Aging, said, “A country as rich as ours should be shocked that over 9.2 million of our fellow older Americans struggle to cover basic expenses like food and medicine.”
What Weidenhofer did for Sandy is incredible and life-changing, but it’s not enough to fix a systemic problem. Americans have to realize that senior citizens have largely been forgotten and swept under the rug. This is unacceptable when they are in desperate need of help. We could all do a little more to be there for our older friends.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
