Every now and then on various social media platforms – you come across heart-rendering stories of people going through various hardships, seeking financial support and help from those who can.
While many of these ordeals are true and the donations by people really do help the ones in desperate need – but how many of us really check the authenticity of the same?
Is an emotional, moving picture shared with an intriguing and heartwarming caption enough to verify that your donated funds would actually be going in the right pockets? Probably not.
It was last year when Kate McClure shared an image of a homeless man named Johnny Bobbit Jr, who acted as a good Samaritan by offering the stranded woman his last $20 bill to fill up gas. She then promised to help him out with his dream of a house and a truck and started a GoFundMe page along with her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico.
According to a fresh report from The Washington Post, the couple managed to crowdfund a whopping $400,000 through the GoFundMe campaign, but unlike their promise to Bobbitt, spent all of it on their own extended getaways and a new luxury BMW car!
The couple then bought Bobbit a camper and a used SUV – which according to reports, was ‘close to breaking down.’
So poor Bobbit ended-up not getting the money which was actually raised on his name, while the couple spent it on their long holidays to Florida, California and Las Vegas.
This has obviously left people aghast, who now seem to be losing trust in online charities of such nature.
Let us hope the people who actually need those donations for real and run through trustable channels do not suffer because of this one incident.