Before December, Ed Bambas was among the sizable swath of older Americans still working with retirement nowhere in sight. Then, he met content creator Samuel Weidenhofer.
Weidenhofer, who has 12 million followers across social media, set up a GoFundMe fundraiser for Bambas on Monday to help him leave his job at a Detroit supermarket and retire.
“I’m opening a fundraiser to help Ed live the life he deserves to finally give him some relief, comfort and the peace of mind that comes from knowing he can enjoy his later years without constant struggle,” Weidenhofer wrote on GoFundMe.
The fundraiser had a $1 million goal. As of Sunday, over 65,000 people have donated, reaching a total of almost $2 million.
In a video shared to Weidenhofer’s social media accounts, Bambas said he’s an 88-year-old veteran who works at the supermarket five days a week, eight hours a day. Bambas said he retired from General Motors in 1999, but lost his pension after the company went bankrupt in 2009.
Bambas told Weidenhofer that his wife, who died seven years ago, had been sick around the time his pension stopped. Without his pension, Bambas had to re-enter the workforce.
Nearly 550,000 Americans 80 and older are still working, according to 2023 US Census data.
As part of Business Insider’s “80 over 80” series, reporters interviewed nearly 200 workers over 80 — in addition to conducting surveys and receiving emails — in an effort to understand why.
While some older Americans are driven by a personal desire to work, others take on jobs to combat financial insecurity. Some workers over 80 told Business Insider that they use their income to supplement their Social Security and other retirement payments. They fear that without the income, they can’t afford the cost of living.
Weidenhofer shared a video of Bambas receiving his GoFundMe check on Friday.
“It’s something dreams are made of,” Bambas said in the video.
Bambas also thanked everyone who donated to the fundraiser.
“I cannot express in any words how thankful I am to all the people,” he said.
