Thousands Raised For 90-Year-Old Louisiana Veteran

A 90-year-old Louisiana Air Force veteran can sleep a little better at night thanks to the generosity of complete strangers.

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While social media gets a lot of flack these days, every now and then, it's used for a good cause. In this case, Dillion McCormick was just minding his own business, doing his job of collecting abandoned shopping carts scattered around the Winn-Dixie parking lot in Metairie, Louisiana when a passerby struck up a conversation.

Karen Swensen, a former news reporter, saw Mr.McCormick working on a hot summer day last weekend and, as any good journalist would, took out her phone and casually interviewed him as he continued to work in the summer heat. He shared that's that he just made 90 in November.

I watched a 90-year-old United States Air Force veteran collect and push shopping carts at a Metairie, Louisiana, grocery store, Back and forth, back and forth, stacking cart after cart, sometimes more than twenty at a time.

Swensen discovered that he needs $2500 a month to live, and he only gets $1,100 from Social Security, so he's working at Winn-Dixie, "pushing carts in triple-digit heat," just get by and make ends meet. Despite the task at hand, Swensen said he has the "kindest smile" and "the greatest attitude" that was not diminished by the mundane task or the sweltering Louisiana heat.

After being inspired and moved by Mr.McCormick's story, she shared the video online and started a GoFundMe.

Thank you to all who donated to Mr. McCormick’s fund. Together, we raised more than $220,000 in 24 hours, enough for him to retire!

Amelia Strahan, from WWL, went to meet Mr. McCormick herself and learned that he plans to keep his job at Winn-Dixie. He shared that he "loves working at Winn Dixie, I get to talk to more people. I try to be nice to them or polite to them really".

Previously the job allowed him to put food on the table but now thanks to the fund raiser he can keep his job without the stress of surviving.