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A restaurant patron has raised more than $300,000 to help an 81-year-old server to retire. brought people on social media together to raise more than $300,000 to help an 81-year-old server to retire. Tamie Konzier, 41, and her son Leo, 10, were saddened to see an elderly server, Betty, still having to work at their local Eat N Park diner, in Pittsburgh. So, the pair began shooting video for TikTok to explain her situation - and their videos went viral, bringing social media together to help raise the astonishing sum. In the video, Tamie said she felt sorry for Betty, who she initially thought was in her 70s, for still having to work and be on her feet all day at such a tender age. Tamie had planned to leave a tip, but with her camera still rolling, she also asked Betty about her situation. The server explained that she was 81 years old and that her money from social security was not enough to live on. Having shared the video on TikTok, Tamie expected the post to gain maybe $100 that she could pass on to Betty – but it soon went viral, with people asking how they could help. Tamie created a GoFundMe in the hope of initially raising $25,000 for Betty, and that milestone was soon passed. In subsequent videos, Tamie kept Betty posted about the generosity of others, and by mid-April, the fund had raised more than $330,000 to help Betty retire.
Transcript
00:00If I can make one video go viral, I hope it's this one because our server at Eaton Park is probably in our 70s.
00:08I'm here with my son and she can hardly walk.
00:11We heard her tell the table next to us because they asked why she was still working.
00:16That she only makes $910 a month on social security and she has to still work because her bills exceed $910 a month.
00:24Any proceeds I get from this video and the TikTok creator rewards program, I will come back and give to her.
00:30I have $40 in my purse, so that's what I'm going to leave her for a tip.
00:39I have to get a lot of views out of this.
00:41Why?
00:42Because she barely has any money.
00:45And what? She can hardly walk.
00:49Yeah.
00:51You have a great day.
00:52This is for you.
00:53We heard you say you can't retire yet.
00:56I know.
00:57So we gave you a little extra.
01:00No, I mean, I worked all my life as a waitress and still can't retire.
01:06I'm sorry.
01:07I feel so terrible.
01:08So does he.
01:09Yeah.
01:09How old are you?
01:11Oh, I shouldn't ask that.
01:12Sorry.
01:12I'm 18.
01:14I'm 81.
01:16Oh, my goodness.
01:17You look great.
01:19You're welcome.
01:20And I can still outdo these young workers.
01:22You take care now.
01:26Take care and enjoy life because it'll go by you fast.
01:31Okay, TikTok.
01:32Do your thing.
01:32Make this video go viral.
01:34Please.
01:35I figured I'd do some kind of update because you have no idea how many messages I'm getting
01:41from everyone.
01:42I'm going to cry.
01:44I cannot believe that this happened.
01:47Thank you, everyone, for your generosity.
01:49I don't even know her and I'm crying.
01:51But I've had some people that have worked with her reach out and they've said such nice things
01:56about her.
01:57Like she's worked so hard and she never complains and she takes care of so many people.
02:01Last time I checked, the GoFundMe was at like $110,000.
02:06I also have $3,200 in my Venmo.
02:09That's all hers.
02:10And we are going to plan to surprise her with the amount of money that comes in.
02:14Where are we, Leo?
02:15We're at Eaton Park.
02:16We're about to go tell Betty the grand total.
02:19Mm-hmm.
02:20The grand total as of today because the GoFundMe has not turned off yet.
02:24And I just figured out what it is as of today.
02:26The GoFundMe is at $323,084.
02:31My Venmo and Cash app is at $4,650.60.
02:36And then I made $1,544.58 off that video.
02:41But after I take taxes out, that's at $1,004.58, bringing her total as of Wednesday around $12.30
02:50to $328,739.18.
02:56Let's go see Betty.
02:57Yeah!
02:58Okay, so we just went to lunch with Betty.
03:00She is a very sweet, deserving woman.
03:04A hundred percent.
03:05She is so nice.
03:06She is so deserving.
03:07She's so grateful.
03:08She's just a really great human, a very deserving human.
03:11She has a great story that I'm not going to share with the world because she doesn't want to share it with the world.
03:16But we had lunch for about two hours today and it was a really nice time.
03:21And I'm so glad that we were put in this place at a certain time and we raised this money for her to enjoy the rest of her life.

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