What would you do if a close family member lost all their savings in an instant? How would you even begin to rebuild? Thankfully, one family did not need to answer these questions. When thieves stole one old man’s savings, the community quickly banded together to save the day!
Losing Everything
One morning, West Virginia resident Jerra Poling awoke to a terrifying call from her elderly grandfather, Harold Taylor, seen above. It seems that, in the middle of the night, thieves had broken into this house and stolen his entire savings from a safe in his farmhouse. In the blink of an eye, Taylor lost all the cash he had saved up, over $6,500. “The hurt in his voice sickened me. I felt light-headed and sick to my stomach. I couldn’t believe someone would do this to him,” Poling commented.
Even worse, the family quickly found themselves in a bad spot. Poling could not give up their own money, as she had a family to feed and another child on the way. Still, Poling would not give up on her grandfather. Supported by friends, she set up a Facebook fundraiser, asking for help for Taylor through social media. Since they could not afford to replace the savings themselves, Poling hoped others would sympathize and help her elderly grandfather.
“My 83-year-old grandpa recently had $6500 stolen from his home safe,” Poling wrote on the fundraiser page. “This was literally all of the money he had to his name, and we are so heartbroken, to say the least. Thank you to everyone who suggested raising money to help him replace such a huge loss. He has no idea that this fundraiser was organized, so I know that his heart will be overwhelmed with love and gratitude, knowing that people wanted to help him. He is a proud man, so I know he would never ask for this help himself, and I appreciate everyone who suggested it.” Soon enough, they had all the help they could ask for…
Overwhelming Support
Within a few hours, donations started flooding in. While the majority came from the local community, the post soon went viral, and contributions came in from all around the world. “I had somebody say that a friend from Florida who had stayed at one of the cabins that he had built on his farm wanted to send a check because he wanted to send ‘cabin rental,'” Poling said.
By the end of the three-day fundraiser, Taylor had all of his money back plus some, earning $10,635. “I’m just overwhelmed with how kind and how giving people have been,” Poling said. Meanwhile, Taylor also could not believe the outpouring of support.
As a thank you, he had his granddaughter share a video of him reading all the names of kind people who donated. “I went to visit papaw today, and I took the list of every single person who had donated and shared it with him. It took us over 20 minutes to read through the list of names, so this is definitely just a short glimpse into the emotional rollercoaster he experienced,” Poling wrote beneath the video. We’re certainly glad this all worked out for the wonderful man, seen above with Poling’s son, his great-grandson.
Sources: MSN