An 82-year-old Walmart employee says she’s overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers after a TikTok video of her at work went viral.
On a recent trip to her local Walmart, Liz Rizzo noticed a woman named Carman Kelly and felt compelled to share her story with others online. “Look at this woman having to work here at Walmart with her cane,” Rizzo began in the 50-second clip.
Rizzo, who asked for Kelly’s name and permission to share the video, ended the clip, “Everyone, she’s 82 years old and working at Walmart. Let’s help her out.” She explained Kelly needed about $10,000 to pay her bills.
That call to action has since been viewed over 15 million times and over 9,000 donations, totaling more than $133,000, have poured into the online fundraiser for Kelly. People from as far as Australia have donated to the cause.
Kelly, who said she has been working at the Walmart Supercenter in Apache Junction, Arizona, for nearly two years, explained to Good Morning America she’s had to work to make ends meet after leaving her former job at another Walmart store during the pandemic.
Now that she’s about to receive a big windfall, Kelly said she “still can’t believe it’s happened.” She continued, “I’m going to be able to pay off all my bills, get a new place to live, hopefully [an] assisted living place to just help me with life.”
As for Rizzo, who volunteers with the AJ Mounted Rangers, a nonprofit that helps children in the Apache Junction area, she hopes the unexpected viral success of her TikTok video can inspire others to lend a helping hand.
Kelly said she calls Rizzo, once a stranger to her, a “guardian angel.”