In a startling turn of events, a young man noticed an elderly woman employed by Walmart and was curious about her situation. He made the decision to make things right after finding that her mortgage was keeping her from retiring.
Devan Bonagura, a resident of New Jersey, had no idea how drastically his life would change as a result of lending a helping hand to a person in need. He learned some eye-opening things from it, and it also served as an example for many others.
He uploaded a 15-second film on TikTok, his fifth video on the well-known video-sharing website, and that was when everything started. Even though Bonagura had his motivations for disseminating the little video, he couldn’t have foreseen the reaction it would elicit.
In the young man’s video, an elderly woman working at the Hackettstown, New Jersey, Walmart was seen seated at the break room table. As of November 28, the video has received 30.8 million views and 4.6 million reactions, turning it into a viral hit.
Even though she was appreciative of his assistance, the elderly woman said it wasn’t enough to cover her mortgage properly.
The elderly person in the video turned out to be Nola Carpenter, 81, a resident of New Jersey who had worked for the large shop for more than 20 years. The viral video quickly accumulated hundreds of comments from internet users all over the world. The inlay lettering on it said:
“Life shouldn’t be [this] difficult,”
While some suggested Carpenter appeared weary and about to give up, others felt a tremendous desire to hug her and comfort her. Given the very positive response, Bonagura realized he couldn’t simply observe. However, something tugged at his heartstrings.
Eventually, Bonagura discovered that Carpenter had been working rather than taking advantage of her retirement because she needed the money to pay off her mortgage. However, given that Walmart pays its employees, on average, $17 to $19 per hour, it would have taken a long time for the older woman to accumulate enough cash.
So, in response to a commenter’s idea and in an effort to alleviate Carpenter’s problems, Bonagura set up a crowdfunding campaign for her with the slogan “Let’s help Nola retire.” The heading stated:
“The fact that Nola works at Walmart should suffice. Come together and provide a hand.
Later, Bonagura admitted that he worked for a different company that sold goods at Walmart rather than Walmart. On November 4, the young man updated his fans on Carpenter’s narrative and made startling revelations in a follow-up video.
He disclosed that a store management had instructed him to take down the popular fundraising page and the viral video because the well-known retailer was supposedly facing cri.ticism. The manager also said that they would call the police if required. However, Bonagura insisted that he was very clear about his position:
I instructed them to take whatever action was necessary because I would find a way to give the woman the money.
Even though the New Jersey resident claimed he got paid leave from his employment in addition to the suspension, he didn’t care because he was happy to have been able to assist Carpenter.
In a different video that was published on November 5, Bonagura surprised Carpenter and put the $110,000 raised by the fundraiser into her account after a brief conversation. Even though she was appreciative of his assistance, the elderly woman said it wasn’t enough to properly cover her mortgage.
Carpenter advised her to keep working until she could earn an additional $60,000 because, at the store, she was paid by the hour, and it would have taken her too long to save up that much money. As a result, Bonagura maintained the GoFundMe page until 13,500 donations totaled $186,323 for the cause.
On November 14, 19-year-old Bonagura published an update video with Carpenter. After handing over the entire sum raised by the GoFundMe page, he conducted a brief Q&A session with her.
Carpenter, who could now afford to retire, said, “I feel wonderful, and I’m thankful for what Devan has done, else none of this would have been possible.
Carpenter, who has worked for the store for more than 20 years, grew sentimental and said she will miss seeing her usual customers. She also stated that she would work through the holidays before retiring at the start of 2023.
Netizens recognized and praised Bonagura’s assistance to Carpenter when the touching tale spread on other social media sites, like Facebook:
“Good work, young man. To your generation, you are an honor.