Walmart cashier, 82, retires after TikTok raises $100,000

An 82-year-old US veteran and Walmart cashier is finally able to retire after an unlikely act of goodwill.

Warren Marion, from Cumberland, Maryland, received a cheque for $108,682 (£89,000) last week thanks to the generosity of online donors.

A GoFundMe had been setup for Mr Marion by Rory McCarty, a small business owner with a big following on TikTok.

A video he posted of them both in December has been viewed over three million times.

Mr McCarty wanted to help Mr Marion, a US Navy veteran and widower, to “do the things he would love to do”, he said in his GoFundMe post launching the campaign last month.

He owns an extermination business called Bug Boys along with a popular TikTok account – he has some 300,000 followers – with the same name where he posts videos of crawling critters.

He said he felt inspired to try and help the elderly veteran using his social media platform because of a similar success story he saw on TikTok. Another 82-year-old Walmart worker was able to retire unexpectedly thanks to a widely shared video and an online fundraiser.

“As a business owner … I was astounded seeing this little older man still grinding. Working eight to nine hour shifts,” Mr McCarty said on the GoFundMe page.

The campaign was a success. Mr McCarty met his fundraising goal within days and people continue to contribute.

Last week, Mr Marion had his last day on the job after giving his two weeks’ notice. Local news media captured the new retiree walking into the Walmart parking lot with balloons and being greeted by the applause of loved ones.

The first words out of Mr Marion’s mouth after he was handed the cheque were “wow”.

He told the Cumberland Times News in December that the funds would pay off his house and allow him to travel to Florida to see his children.

“All I can tell you is the good Lord has blessed me for what I did in my younger years,” Mr Marion told the newspaper.