Feb. 1, 2016
Kyle Guthrie
[email protected]
After the $1.5 billion Powerball drawing, a woman named Cinnamon Nicole created a GoFundMe to collect back her family savings, all of which she spent on lottery tickets.
Nicole asked for $100,000 in donations and explained that her family spent all of their money on lottery tickets expecting to win. If this isn’t sickening enough, she added that the donated money will go to MORE lottery tickets.
The first time I came across a GoFundMe, it was a page created to prevent a World War II veteran from losing his house.
I heard of crowdfunding before, but it was limited to film studios trying to kick start fan films such as “Veronica Mars,” or trying to collect enough money to create a working prototype of a cool invention.
Now, there was this site that uses the same tactic to give a hand to those suffering through hard times.
It was inspirational and beautiful.
But over time, I have crossed paths with numerous shams, and that’s not even counting the plethora of pages dedicated to people getting boob jobs, hair plugs or new cars.
After reading through another GoFundMe page that hoped to raise $25,000 for a fellow veteran, I realized that his “sob story” was him being passed over for a promotion.
One of my favorite pages is a man asking kind patrons for cash so that he can buy Kanye West’s new clothing line.
It’s sad to see a site dedicated to helping those who are down on their luck being abused by people looking for a quick buck.
But the real problem with these pages is from the contributors themselves.
GoFundMe removed Nicole’s page, but not before she miraculously raised over $800 worth of donations.
The second the donation counter on these funds increase, other scumbags use GoFundMe as another get rich quick scheme they can’t wait to hop on board with.
Meanwhile, legitimate and respectable non-profits wonder what cause could possibly be more important than their mission to save children dying from cancer, or veterans dying from medical conditions that could easily be treated.
Everyone loves an inspirational story of someone down on their luck who had their fortunes changed because of the kindness of strangers.
But next time you consider donating to a cause, realize there is a difference between helping a good-hearted man who needs hope in his life and helping a woman begging for donations she plans to throw away on lottery tickets.