A worker at a New Hampshire pawn shop lent some much-needed kindness to a 90-year-old veteran who was pawning jewelry to make ends meet for himself and his wife, who is suffering from dementia.
Only, this was not a loan. Jenelle Marie, a TikTok user who helps out at U.S. Gold & Pawn in Manchester, started a GoFundMe page that has already pulled in more than $385,000 in donations for the disabled Air Force veteran.
The money was pledged to help Donald, who requested that his last name not be revealed.
“I never realized that there were so many wonderful, thoughtful, generous people in the world. It’s just, it’s mind-boggling, and I’m so overwhelmed, I really don’t know what to say,” Donald told WMUR. “Something like that has just never happened to me before.”
‘I could kiss you’
Jenelle’s act of kindness began modestly enough.
Donald had pawned some jewelry to help him raise some money since his rent had been increased, according to the GoFundMe page. He needed $1,380 to get the jewelry back, and when Donald came into the pawn shop, Jenelle initially told him that the shop owner was not going to charge him interest, according to a video the woman posted on TikTok.
Through her family and friends on GoFundMe, Jenelle and her fiancé had raised $1,300. She presented the money to Donald and filmed the exchange. The veteran initially did not want to accept the money and appeared to be overwhelmed, but Jenelle convinced
him to take the money.
“I could kiss you,” Donald says as he hugs Janelle. “You can’t do that. I can’t let you do that.
“I could never thank you.”
Donald was able to pay the remaining $80 he owed and recovered the jewelry he had pawned.
Jenelle posted the video to her TikTok account and linked to the GoFundMe page, and donations began pouring in.
“There’s someone from Budapest,” she said. “There’s someone from Australia, someone from Ireland, England, Bangladesh.”
Donations exceeded expectations
The goal for the donation page was to help Donald pay for a one-bedroom, first-floor apartment in the Manchester area, Jenelle told USA Today.
“I have looked into all sorts of resources, even Section 8 housing for him, and the waitlists are too long,” she said.
But the donations far exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Jenelle called Donald back into the shop to present him with a $250,000 check on Aug. 9
“My fiancé and I sat him down and asked him to make sure he remembers to breathe when we tell him this news. He was looking at us very confused,” she explained in a GoFundMe page update. “I explained that the fundraiser I made for him had gone viral (Which of course we had to explain what viral meant to our 90-year-old friend). I told him that meant that everyone in the world was seeing this and stepping forward to donate. At that point before I even told him what the fundraiser was at he was already extremely emotional and couldn’t believe all the kindness from strangers across the world.”
The moment was captured again in another TikTok post, but Jenelle said that Donald’s humility caused him to insist that the original video would not be posted in media reports.
“That was a very vulnerable emotional moment for him And he does not want that shared as I’m sure everyone can understand,” Jenelle said. “He’s going to send out a thank you to everyone in the world who donated today.”
Overwhelmed by generosity
Donald, who is a Vietnam War veteran, turns 91 this month. He said that his wife recently became sick, and he has been caring for her, WMUR reported. The couple has no children or remaining family.
“When you get married, you say, for better or for worse, richer or poor and so on. And so this is what I signed up for. I have an obligation to her, and I love her dearly,” Donald said. “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me besides this, of course, this is the second best!”
In the second TikTok video posted by Janelle, Donald said that the public’s kindness and generosity “has just been overwhelming.”
“I’m not too sure that I know what to say or how to say it, other than to say I’m profoundly grateful for everything you’ve done for me,” he said.
Jenelle said the GoFundMe page would remain open until she meets with Donald and an attorney to ensure how to put the money in a safe place for him to access. As of Aug. 13, $385,565 had been pledged by nearly, 14,000 donors.
“There’s a lot to go over. We want to make sure everything is done right,” Jenelle said.
She also thanked the many people who donated to help Donald’s cause.
“I mean, seriously none of this would’ve been possible without all of you guys, and we are just so blown away at all the kindness that exist out there that we very seldom hear about,” Jenelle wrote. “You ALL are angels in disguise and THIS type of love is what this world needs.”
