A woman harnessed the power of the internet to raise $28,500 for a colleague's retirement fund

• A TikToker said her colleague was about to retire after 42 years of working for minimum wage.
• The video led to a huge wave of support as viewers asked if they could donate to a retirement fund.

A woman who set up a retirement fundraiser for a colleague was inundated with over 1,600 donations after she shared his story.

The TikToker, who goes by goes by "dj soniahchand," posted a video around the end of September that showed a man working in what appeared to be a warehouse unit. A lengthy on-screen caption said he was the TikToker's co-worker named John who was in his 70s and about to retire after spending 42 years working for minimum wage.

The video is no longer available to view on the TikTok account but was seen by Insider and has since been re-uploaded by another user to X, formerly Twitter. In a follow-up video, the TikToker said they had been asked to change the privacy settings on the clip so that only friends would be able to view it. It is not clear who made this request, but it may have been John's brother, whom the TikToker referred to in the same video, calling him one of John's "financial caretakers."

The TikToker went on to to post four more videos about John which received hundreds of thousands of combined views and many comments from people who asked how they could support him. On October 2, the TikToker announced a GoFundMe page had been set up for him.

The page described John as "one of the most talented & hard working co workers I know" and asked, "Can we give John a little something more for his retirement? Or maybe just some positive vibes and words of encouragement to get him through the rest of his days."

Later that same day, the TikToker posted a screenshot of the fundraiser which showed it had already received 51 donations, and $980 towards their $1,000 goal.

"The power of TikTok !!!!! Yalll did this for a complete stranger who is literally the most deserving man!!!!" an on-screen caption read.

But the donations didn't stop there. The creator continued to post updates of the quickly rising sum, which reached $28,536 before the fundraising page was disabled by the organizer.

"I posted the original video not thinking anything, I was more so angry at witnessing how the older generation was being honored for their dedication," the creator wrote alongside an update video. "Here we are two days later! Thank you all so much! My other amazing co worker is helping me make all the arrangements for John! Stay tuned!!!"

Further updates from the creator said she was in the process of speaking to John's family to get the funds to him.

She did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

This isn't the first time TikTok has rallied in support of older workers to help set them up financially for retirement. In 2022, three Walmart employees went viral as they each received thousands of dollars as part of an online fundraising campaign.

While these stories are often met with large waves of support from those online who are eager to donate, critics have suggested retirement fundraisers function as a short-term solution that can potentially oversimplify the root causes of social structures that require them.

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.