An 81-year-old restaurant server named Betty in Pittsburgh must have been smiling the rest of her shift: a woman had given her an outsized, $40 tip.
She might have thought that was the end of their interaction, but Betty could not have imagined what that $40 tip would lead to.
Tamie Konzier, a Pittsburgh-based esthetician and TikToker, had taken her son Leo to eat at a local restaurant called Eat’n Park, and when she heard Betty confide to another customer that she struggled to finish out her shifts from back pain, but couldn’t retire from financial difficulties. The small $910 social security check in the mail wasn’t enough.
Moved by Betty’s plight, Konzier whipped out her phone and pressed record. “If I make one video go viral, let it be this one.”
Describing to her fans Betty’s situation, she announced she’d give any proceeds that her TikTok Creator Rewards Program might generate from the post to Betty, and post-scripted the video by offering Betty $40, or “all the money in my purse.”
Betty was moved and grateful, and ensured Konzier that even at 81 she can “still outdo all these whippersnappers.”
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Konzier got her wish: the post went viral. Within 24 hours she had received so many requests for a place to donate, she had to set up a GoFundMe to channel the generosity.
At $140,000 she went to tell Betty the news.
“I think I better get a financial adviser!” Betty said, clearly stunned. “You don’t know what this is going to help me for.”
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Konzier posted a couple of updates on the situation, and every time the GoFundMe swelled until it reached $300,000.
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“I can not express how grateful Betty is for her retirement fund!” Konzier wrote in the final update on the fundraiser. “My lawyer, Max Petrunya, and I have set Betty up with an Elder Law attorney, Colin Morgan of Julian Gray Associates. We are in the process of setting up a trust fund for Betty so her social services are not affected. Thank you again for your donations, we expect to close the go fund me at the end of April.”
SHARE This Incredible Response To A Simple Request On Social Media…
Konzier: It is so nice to see/hear of people like you helping others. A person 81 years old should not have to work. It is time for a person to live without having to worry if they can pay their bills or pay for medicine.
Sometimes older folks need something to keep them going. An 80+ man I knew sold his hardware store and was gone in a few months–Without a purpose, he had no reason to stick around