A 90-year-old disabled Air Force veteran living in New Hampshire has raised money to pay rent and avoid eviction for him and his wife, who has dementia, after a TikTok user filmed him pawning jewelry. Over $365,000.
TikTok user Jenelle Marie met the man, named Donald, at US Gold and Pawn in Manchester, where he told her about his financial situation.
Donald explained that he was struggling to meet his bills after his landlord raised the rent, and his wife had recently been diagnosed with dementia. He said he worried about being displaced and that his wife might be forced to return home.
Mary created a GoFundMe page to help ease Donald’s financial stress. As of Monday morning, the fundraiser had raised more than $365,000.
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Donald said he’s struggling to keep up with his bills after his landlord raised the rent. (go support me)
Shortly after the fundraiser began, she posted a video on TikTok handing Donald an envelope containing the $1,200 raised at the time.
Donald was initially reluctant to accept the money, but Mary insisted.
Thanks to the $1,200, he was able to keep the pawned jewelry and pay off his debt to the landlord.
“You are an angel in disguise, you really are,” he told Mary. “I don’t know what to say, I really don’t know what to say.”
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“This is the best birthday present anyone has ever received,” Donald said. August 25th is his 91st birthday.
Mary wrote on the GoFundMe page that when she told him the fundraiser had raised $164,000 at the time, it was “a truly beautiful and exciting moment” and “something I will never forget.”
“He generously said he could never thank us and the people who donated,” she wrote. “He said he didn’t deserve it. He was ‘just a regular guy,’ but we explained to him that he was much more than that!”
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She said the fundraiser will remain open until she and Donald can meet with attorneys and figure out how to get the money into a secure account for Donald’s use.
Mary wrote: “We are shocked by the kindness we rarely hear out there. You are all angels in disguise and this kind of love is exactly what the world needs.”
