$1.5M raised for 88-year-old Army vet after viral video showed him working in grocery store

Bambas started crying when Weidenhofer asked if he could share his story to get people to help him retire. Weidenhofer created a GoFundMe for Bambas on Monday.

By Thursday morning, it had raised more than $1.5 million for the Army veteran. Weidenhofer said he plans on presenting Bambas with the money on Friday in a ceremony, which is still being finalized.

Bambas’ son, Michael Bambas, said his father does not know how much was raised.

“My dad has no idea how much is in the fund. He doesn’t do the internet or any of that stuff, so he has no idea how much is in there or anything else,” he said in a phone interview. “He knows there’s a GoFundMe page, but that’s all he knows.”

Michael Bambas, 63, said he didn’t know his dad had gone viral until he started receiving text messages from family and friends Tuesday morning.

“I saw my dad, and he was telling me about some guy that came into the store, started asking him questions, and then they wanted to do this little mini interview, and the guy gave him a $400 tip,” he said. “That’s all we kind of knew about it, didn’t think much more of it.”

He said he’s been working with Weidenhofer’s team on how his dad can receive the money.

Michael Bambas said the past few days have been overwhelming. He said after his mother’s death, his dad had lost himself.

“Right after my mom passed away, I’d go over to the house, and I’d find him basically walking around in circles, not knowing what to do with himself because he took care of my mom for almost 10 years as her primary caretaker,” he said. “After she passed, he was pretty much lost as far as purpose and all of that.”

As medical bills began to mount, he said his dad started looking for work. He’s been working eight-hour shifts five days a week at Meijer for 5 years, Michael Bambas said.

“I try to help him when and where I can financially, but he accumulated a lot of debt due to medical bills and such,” he said.

Meijer said that Bambas is a valuable team member who connects with customers and adds joy and warmth to the store. The store said it would offer additional support in light of the viral video and outpouring of donations.

“We are providing Ed with no-cost financial planning assistance for life to help him make the most of these generous contributions and will continue to support him as a valued member of our team,” the store said in a statement Thursdsay.

Michael Bambas said that with the money raised from GoFundMe, his dad can “start living and doing things for himself.”

“I don’t know how to thank everybody for what they’re doing for my dad. It’s just amazing, words can’t describe,” he said.