This is the kind of feel good story we need at this time of the year.
Elizabeth Rizzo saw an 82-year-old woman holding a cane and working at an Arizona Walmart, and she wondered why she was still working at her age. She had no idea how she would be used to change this elderly woman’s life.
Rizzo learned that the Walmart employee, Carman Kelly, was working to pay off about $10,000 in medical debt and only had $50 in her bank account at the time.
So Rizzo made a TikTok video and the rest is history. It has been viewed more than 15 million times. And the GoFundMe fundraiser she created and shared with her followers has raised more than $129,000 for Kelly — surpassing the initial goal by thousands.
“I was surprised at the amount we were able to fundraise,” Rizzo told the media. “I was really shocked, but I believe in the goodness of people and I believe if you touch their heart, in some way, they’ll come together.”
Rizzo kept Kelly updated throughout her fundraising efforts and the two women have now formed a close friendship.
The first video Rizzo posted raised about $5,000 and so she recorded another TikTok video sharing the news.
“You’re their new grandma!” Rizzo said in the video as she told a shocked Kelly the news. “Will you be able to retire after this?” Rizzo asked.
“I hope so!” Kelly responded.
That’s when the donations began pouring in!
“With the second video, it just went crazy,” Rizzo says. “I was not planning this, I just felt moved to do this.”
Rizzo has continued to record her interactions with Kelly and shares them with this new TikTok community.
“There isn’t enough words to tell you how I feel,” Kelly told Rizzo during the reveal. “It isn’t just about me, it’s what the meaning of all this is and I really feel that. It’s about joy.”
