TikTok fundraiser grants gift of retirement to 82-year-old Navy vet working at Walmart

If you stopped by the Walmart in Maryland where Butch Marion worked, you might have seen him buttoned up in a Walmart customer service vest, cashing folks out near the front of the store.

Decades ago, the 82-year-old Navy veteran was wearing a much different uniform.

Marion, who worked at the Walmart in Cumberland, had been in the workforce since the age of 11 and spent 10 years in the Navy, Fortune reported. He recently caught the eye of Rory McCarty, known as @bug_boys on TikTok.

In his first conversation with Marion over a Walmart cashier counter, McCarty told the veteran how some Walmart employees had received staggering amounts of money thanks to TikTok fundraisers that helped them retire.

When McCarty asked Marion what it would feel like if he became one of those lucky people, Marion let out a humble “whew” as if he couldn’t imagine something like that happening to him.

Thanks to McCarty’s TikTok and thousands of donations on GoFundMe, it did.

“I wanted to help this Navy Veteran to live the remainder of his years traveling to see his kids in Florida,” McCarty wrote on the GoFundMe. “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.”

When the GoFundMe hit more than $108,000, McCarty recorded a video of Marion, dressed in his Walmart uniform, receiving a hefty check that would grant him retirement.

“I can’t thank you guys enough,” Marion told McCarty in one of the videos, then hugged him

Days later, the GoFundMe is still growing and is almost at $150,000 as of Jan. 12.

“Looks like I’ll be presenting Butch another check,” McCarty told his viewers.

Marion worked at Walmart through the beginning of January and then retired after 16 years of working at the store, McCarty said in an update video.

“Makes my heart happy that you started this and we’re able to get so many to donate for this veteran,” one person said. “Much deserved!! Thank you.”

Marion is one worker out of several in a growing TikTok trend of fundraisers for people to help support retirement. Others, including an 82-year-old woman working at Walmart in Arizona and a father working at a Burger King for 27 years, received thousands of dollars thanks to fundraisers set up by TikTok creators.

“Let’s keep changing lives! I’m happy to contribute to another special person,” one viewer said.

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