TikTok raised over $100,000 for an 82-year-old Walmart cashier after a viral video. Now the U.S. Navy veteran can finally retire

Butch Marion, 82, was able to quit his job as a cashier at the retailer in Cumberland, Md., thanks to the efforts of creator Rory McCarty, who posted a video of the worker on Dec. 17, asking his followers to help. McCarty’s video received over 3.3 million views. 

Marion, a widower and U.S. Navy veteran, said in further videos that he had been working since he was 11 years old and spent 10 years in the Navy. 

The donations rolled in at an incredible pace through a GoFundMe page set up by McCarty, with donors expressing how much Marion’s story inspired them. At the time of writing, the page has raised $123,995; it reportedly received over $50,000 in the first 24 hours. 

While McCarty originally built popularity online by sharing clips of his life running a bug extermination company, he was keen to use his platform for a good cause. 

On his GoFundMe page, McCarty explained, “I wanted to help this navy veteran to live the remainder of his years traveling to see his kids in Florida… Get him off his feet for 8 hrs at a time. And do the things he would love to do that he may not be able to for financial reasons.”

“As a business owner and knowing how hard it’s been to try to find good help for my business I was astounded seeing this little older man still grinding working eight- to nine-hour shifts,” McCarty said. 

In a clip published by Fox 5 Washington, D.C., Marion was seen leaving the store on his final day, holding balloons amid a crowd of cheering onlookers in the parking lot and then receiving a check from McCarty. 

Marion has said he’d like to use the money to “go to Florida and see my kids,” and “enjoy my last 10 or 12 years I’ve got.” 

#TikTokWalmartRetiree

Marion is now the third Walmart employee to have received life-changing donations from social media users in recent months in what is quickly becoming a trend—it even has its own hashtag: #TikTokWalmartRetiree. 

Just before Christmas, 82-year-old Carmen Kelly from Arizona went viral after she was filmed by shopper Elizabeth Rizzo, who spotted her pushing through her Walmart shift despite having to use a cane while she worked, unable to sit down per the retailer’s employee rules. 

Kelly reportedly had only $50 in her bank account at the time Rizzo filmed her and had been struggling to pay her medical bills. TikTokers raised over $135,000 so she no longer had to struggle. 

Prior to Kelly, a video of 81-year-old Walmart employee Nola was posted to TikTok on Nov. 3 by Devan Bonagura, who also set up a GoFundMe page. The original clip had over 30 million views and generous strangers raised a total of $186,318 for the worker.