OT - Go Fund Me epidemic
 

Am I the only one who thinks these Go Fund Me accounts have gotten out of hand?

I know a woman (in her 30’s) who lives in an apartment in Tahoe. They are not near the fire. She and her boy friend went on a vacation to Las Vegas to visit her grandmother. She has a big sign in her car window saying she is a “refugee” from the wildfires and please donate to her Go Fund Me account. There have been others that just make me shake my head, too. I’d like to go to Paris - maybe I should start a Go Fund Me account.

A friend told me how she knew a mom who set up a Go Fund Me for their child to enroll in dance classes. They weren't even in dire need.

I thought the success of Gofundme campaigns had waned majorly since it was widely abused by people who didn't need emergent help. Unless I see a campaign mentioned on a major news outlet or know the person, I remain skeptical of some campaigns.

Yes! I am leery of them for sure. There are a couple in my area that I have recently donated to. Both of them had news stories about them so I knew there was a need. Both very sad stories so I gave. 😢

I know of a person who started a go fund me because her dog needed surgery after swallowing a sock. She said that she and her husband would deplete their savings for a house if they had to pay for it themselves!

My dog swallowed a sock and knowing it would be pricey, I took a lot of my good jewelry to the pawn shop. After I sold everything, the vet called and said my dog pooped out the sock just before surgery. I still had to pay some but not nearly as much as I would have if he would have undergone surgery, but by then my jewelry had been sold...rotten dog. 😁

Gams...how big was the sock....how big was the dog....the logistics....you know nevermind lol!

I have long thought of that. Practically ever story you read about has a linked GoFund me account. There was the story about the lady who lied about her and her daughters being evicted and come to find out the little girls featured in the article were not even her daughters! She got over $300,000 and said SOME of the money would be returned but by a certain day or whatever. It sounded like she planned on keeping as much as she can.

I'd seen an article about a man who died and he had insurance to pay for the funeral yet his family started a GoFund me account anyway and got thousands of dollars. I thought of starting one just so that I could do some long overdue shopping that I would like to do. I mean everyone else does it!

I must be missing those ridiculous GFM requests. The ones here were for a woman who got off her horse on the shoulder of the road and a driver hit and killed her and injured her horse…in front of her daughter who she was riding with. 😢:(. The one yesterday was for a young boy who after seeing his mom and sister being hit by a car, ran across the street to get help for them and was hit and killed by a truck. 😢

Honestly I donated to both. 😢

I'm a hiker and I enjoy following stories on social media on various hikers that do long-distance hikes, like the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest. GoFundMe pages create controversy in the hiking world too, and admonishments: Why should we contribute to "your" hike??? We all would like a 6-month (paid) vacation to go walking in the woods! Save up your money & do it like the rest of us.