A 15-second video made by TikToker @Dbon973 has raised enough money for a Walmart employee to pay off her house and retire.
Devan Bonagura first recorded the employee, named Nola, as she sat in the Walmart break room. This video racked up over 24.1 million views.
Because of the public outpouring of support, Bonagura started a GoFundMe page for Nola and gave her nearly $170,000, the amount she said she needed to retire.
Bonagura claims Walmart asked him to take down the page and return the money to donors due to threats they have received, but he refused
"They saw that you're a very hard worker, obviously," he told the woman. "We are all super proud of you, and we wanted to offer you the $110,000 that has been raised for you."
"I'd accept it, but I'd still have to work until I get the other $60,000 paid off the house," she told him, seemingly nonplussed at the donations raised. She agreed that the sum would help, noting that the mortgage would "go way down" and it wouldn't "take long now" to save up the remaining amount.
Walmart's average wage is $19 for hourly workers, and saving $60,000 would likely require Nola to work several additional years. If she were working 40 hours a week, she'd be making $39,520 a year before taxes and day-to-day expenses like food and transportation factored in.
At the time of writing, the GoFundMe is now at $168,800, close to the grand total Nola estimated she needed to retire, which she said she planned to do "as soon as I get it. That's what's holding me at work — the house."