An 82-year-old Walmart employee was shown true kindness last month after a TikToker raised over $100,000 so he could retire. Now, he finally has.
Rory McCarty posted a video on TikTok on December 17 that saw 82-year-old Butch Marion working behind the cash register at his local Walmart.
Acknowledging a recent trend of money being raised for elderly Walmart employees, McCarty asked his followers if Marion should receive the same treatment - with the answer being a big yes!
A GoFundMe page was set up for Marion, and within two days the fundraiser had received over $100,000 in donations - with it currently standing at over $116,000.
In a follow-up video, Marion revealed that he would use the money to spend time with his children in Florida and that he had been working since the age of 11 - including 10 years serving in the Navy.
On Wednesday (January 4), Marion received a giant check for $108,000 outside the Walmart where the original video was captured - and he has now fully retired!
As reported by Fox 5, Marion would work up to 30 hours a week at the superstore.
But this isn't the first time that Butch has retired.
He had retired once before in order to care for his ex-wife's husband. However, after his former brother-in-law passed away, Marion returned to work so he could pay his bills.
"I feel like a new man," Marion told Fox 5, "This is just unreal."
McCarty, who organized the fundraiser, said: "I just wanted to put something in motion and the lord did the rest. I’m just so excited for him."
This isn't the first time that TikTok users have united to help an elderly Walmart worker, with 81-year-old Nola Carpenter receiving the same treatment in November last year.
A viral video was shared of Carpenter in the Walmart breakroom with the caption: "Life shouldn't be this hard," and a subsequent fundraiser was started.
More than $186,000 was raised which allowed the elderly worker to retire and be able to fully pay off the mortgage of her house, which was something that was causing her concern.
However, Carpenter did specify that she was going to remain at work over the Christmas season in order to help out, and would retire in the new year.
This trend of helping deserving elder workers retire is something we can fully get behind!
