When a 24-year-old’s amusing handwritten sign helped to propel him into the national limelight, he decided to use his 15 minutes of fame to help sick children instead.
Carson King was just one of the many spectators attending ESPN’s “College GameDay” event in Ames, Iowa last week, where football fans vie for air-time with homemade signs.
The former Iowa State University student hoped to scrape together some party money for himself and his friends on Game Day, so he made a sign emblazoned with his Venmo e-banking account name and the words: “Busch Light Supply Needs Replenished.”
Carson held it up during the live broadcast, but had no idea that viewers from all over the country were sending him money until his friend saw notifications popping up—one after another, on Carson’s phone.
After his Venmo balance began to climb over $1,000, however, he knew that he couldn’t keep all the money for himself. He then announced that he would be donating all of the money—save for the amount he would need for a 24-pack of beer—to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
University of Iowa football fans, located in Iowa City, are renowned for their tradition of waving at the children in the neighboring hospital during their games. Now, since Carson began gathering donations for the hospital, his spontaneous fundraiser has racked up over $90,000.
We see a lot of great stories, but this is one of our favs @CarsonKing2. Count us in for matching the donation to the hospital, too. #ftk💛@BuschBeer @CollegeGameDay https://t.co/thS8JXOXC3
— Venmo (@venmo) September 17, 2019
Additionally, King used his brief segment of news coverage to ask businesses and individuals to match his donations. Since Carson’s call to action was aired on KCCI, Anheuser-Busch and Venmo said they both would match his final donation.
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King says that he will be keeping his #ForTheKids fundraiser open until the end of September, and his mother, Dana Archer-King, says that she could not be more proud of her son.
“Anyone who know Carson can tell you he’s a fun-loving, yet honorable individual with great character,” says Archer-King. “Trust me, he could have kept all the money to himself (and with a mortgage payment, living expenses, and $700 per month student loans, he could use it!) but that’s not who he is.”
.@CarsonKing2 this is the best thing we have read all year, we’re inspired.
— Busch Beer (@BuschBeer) September 17, 2019
We’re going to match your donation to University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, and we’ll throw in some of that Busch Light you were looking for. https://t.co/NPPrPp6zJg
Best of all, because Carson has become the poster child of somebody being “Iowa Nice”, he’s getting free beer for a year, courtesy of Anheuser-Busch.
If you want to donate to King’s Venmo fundraiser, his username is @Carson-King-25.
(WATCH the news coverage below) — Photo by KCCI
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