An 85-year-old movie theater employee learned this week that strangers across the country had pooled more than $146,000 to help her retire — after a young woman filmed her quietly pushing a cleaning cart and posted the video to TikTok.
Brooklyn Green, 21, said she had just finished watching a movie with her grandparents at the AMC theater in Maryville on Saturday night when she spotted the worker. Moved by what she saw, Ms. Green drove home and launched a GoFundMe on behalf of the woman, whom the campaign page identifies as Mary Ellen Eron, with a modest goal.
“I knew nothing about her. I didn’t even know her name when I went to the theater,” Ms. Green told WATE 6 News. “I just decided that she was working so hard, and I aspired to be like her one day. So I just decided, let’s shoot our shot. Let’s try to retire her and thought just a couple friends would donate.”
The response was anything but small. According to WATE, the campaign drew more than 7,500 donations and reached $146,317 before donations were paused. The TikTok post had accumulated more than 2.5 million likes, WATE reported, and had been viewed more than 13 million times.
Ms. Eron found out about the fundraiser before Ms. Green could deliver the news in person. According to Ms. Green’s account to WATE, a neighbor knocked on Ms. Eron’s door in the middle of the night to tell her she had gone viral — though she still had no idea how much had been raised. Ms. Green returned to the theater on Tuesday and told her.
“Oh my goodness gracious! That’s a lot of money,” Ms. Eron said in a video Ms. Green later posted showing the exchange.
Whether Ms. Eron will retire remains her own decision. Her manager told Ms. Green that she loves her work, has spent 45 years in movie theaters and is widely known as a generous person. Ms. Eron confirmed as much, saying she had been quietly helping a local mother and her children, as well as people experiencing homelessness.
“She was so thankful. She’s like, ’God blessed me beyond measure,’” Ms. Green told the station.
According to CBS News, Ms. Eron thanked donors directly, saying she was “overwhelmed and certainly blessed by the Lord and you wonderful people.”
Ms. Green said she was grateful for everyone who contributed — and for those who simply shared the post or left encouraging comments.
“It’s overwhelming the amount of people that donated and commented, and even the people that didn’t donate, like their support meant just as much,” she said. “I’m just thankful they trusted me with those funds and to give those to her.”
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