Viral Veteran Pays It Forward After GoFundMe Raises $2 Million For His Retirement
Remember the story of Ed Bambas, an 88-year-old veteran who went viral in December? Social media influencer Samuel Weidenhofer shared a TikTok video showing him bagging groceries at Meijer, explaining he couldn’t retire due to his wife’s care costs. The video went viral, and more than 60,000 online donors raised nearly $2 million for Bambas in less than a week!
Well there’s a pretty great update! He DID retire in January, and then Ed launched the For Your Service Campaign on April 30, aiming to raise $10 million for 50 veterans across all states.
He donated $1,000 to kickstart each GoFundMe. “I never dreamt that I could be in this position where I wasn’t forced to work ’til I die,” Bambas told USA TODAY.