88-Year-Old Veteran Receives $1.77M Fundraiser Check

An 88-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Brighton, Michigan, received a life-changing $1.77 million check on Friday, the culmination of a viral online fundraiser that allowed him to retire after years of financial hardship and full-time work at a local grocery store.

Ed Bambas, who served in the Army in 1966, had retired from General Motors in 1999 but lost his pension and health insurance when the company, through its subsidiary Delphi Corporation, filed for bankruptcy in 2009. The loss compounded his struggles when his wife, Joan, fell gravely ill. Without coverage, Bambas sold his home and property to pay for her medical care. Joan died in 2018 after more than a decade under his primary care, leaving him heartbroken and in debt. To make ends meet, he took a cashier job at the Meijer supermarket in southeastern Michigan at age 82, working 40-hour weeks for nearly six years.

Bambas's story gained widespread attention after Australian influencer Sam Weidenhofer, 22, from Melbourne, visited the store during a U.S. trip focused on acts of kindness. Tipped off by a former customer, 26-year-old Lexi Wallace, who had shopped there regularly and nominated Bambas on Weidenhofer's social...