Jenelle Marie Gofundme for Donald the Veteran down on his luck shows what’s so wrong with America along with what’s so good about it as concerned citizens raise over $300K in a Fundraiser for the disabled 90 year old former veteran trying to take care of his sick wife amid a recent rent hike…
A 90 year old former veteran in New Hampshire who had been reduced to pawning off his sick wife’s jewellery to take care of her along with contending with their landlord’s rent hike has been saved by the good graces of a local woman who decided to take actions in her own hands.
Jenelle Marie of Derry Village, had filmed disabled Air Force veteran, Donald, attempting to pawn jewelry off at US Gold and Pawn in Manchester (she occasionally helps out there) to pay off the debt he’d accrued while trying to care for his sick wife, who was recently diagnosed with dementia.
A special one tonight: 90-year-old Donald, a veteran from New Hampshire, was struggling to make ends meet, after his wife got sick.
When he tried to make some extra money at a pawn shop – the community stepped in.
More than $250K from has now been raised to help him. pic.twitter.com/gpeDvJ4sSY
— Arielle Mitropoulos WMUR (@AMitropsWMUR) August 10, 2024
90 year old New Hampshire former veteran struggling to stay afloat
That’s when Marie happened on the idea of launching a fundraiser for the couple, with a since initiated GoFundme fundraiser as of Saturday noon raising just on $295, 880.
Little did Jenelle Marie realise how much Donald’s story would stir the hearts and imaginations of individuals not just in New Hampshire, but across all of the United States.
When she initially started the fundraiser, Marie wrote: ‘He’s deathly afraid he’s going to be displaced and that they are going to make his wife go to a home,’
Earlier this week, Marie surprised the 90 year old former vet with an envelope with $1,300 in it (Donald had owed $1380 to the pawn broker) that she had collected from the fundraiser before it went viral.
‘I could kiss you,’ Donald says as he opens the envelope in a video posted to TikTok.
‘Oh my goodness,’ Donald is heard saying when he realizes what’s inside the envelope
When he’s told the amount, the 90 year old responds, ‘Listen, I can’t let you do this for me.’
Responds Marie: ‘I know your struggling, I know you’re trying to take care of your wife. I appreciate your [military] service.’
With the generous offer – which Marie, her fiancé, and around 25 other people chipped in for – it left Donald with only $80 of debt left to pay and he was able to keep his jewelry.
‘You’re an angel in disguise, you really are,’ he tells Marie. ‘I don’t know what to say, I really don’t know what to say.’
Veterans and homelessness
Addressing his circumstances, Donald said, ‘If I could ever get out from under this big rock that’s on top of me, I could actually start taking better care of my wife.’
Adding, ‘Right now, there are things I should be doing that I can’t afford to do. It really bothers me. I just feel really badly about it.’
Marie is also helping Donald look for new, more affordable housing, having looked into Section 8 housing for the 90 year old former vet and his wife according to USA Today.
‘I have looked into all sorts of resources, even Section 8 housing for him, and the waitlists are too long,’ Marie said.
- 35,574 veterans were experiencing homelessness.
- 20,076 veterans were sheltered, while 15,507 veterans were unsheltered.
- Most veterans (98%) experience homelessness as individuals. Of those individuals, 30% had experienced chronic patterns of homelessness.
- 87.8% (31,231 veterans) were men, while 11.2% (3,980 veterans) were women
Social media responds to 90 year old vet’s predicament
In a follow-up video, Donald – alongside Marie and her fiancé – holds up a giant check worth $250,000 – all that was collected through a GoFundMe.
‘I’m profoundly grateful for everything you’ve done for me,’ Donald says in the video. ‘Thank you so very much. God bless you.’
Implicit and presumably a big reason why the fundraiser has been received so well are dire economic situations facing most individuals in the U.S, never mind retired and former veterans, in particularly disabled ones who have no family or children (Donald and his wife have no children) to lean on leading into their Twilight years and a system which is overladen and generally unable to met out degrees of security to retirees in the face of insurmountable cost of life crises currently sweeping the U.S along with the limitations of accessing health and retirement care which generally favors only the financially well-heeled in a hyper capitalist run economy.
And then there were these comments on the web that caught this author’s attention. See what you think?
‘From one USAF Vet to another. I know how it feels to struggle. I wish I could give more. Thank you for your service.’
‘Sadly this isn’t an uncommon occurrence in this country. Our veterans are so often forgotten about by the very government they served. Thank goodness for those with huge hearts.’
‘The fact that our war veterans had to pawn their stuff to ensure the roof above their heads & healthcare. There gotta be a better way.’
