88-Year-Old Army Vet Who Lost His Wife And Retirement Funds Receives $1.9M In Donations So He Can Finally Retire

88-year-old Army vet and widower Ed Bambas has been working at a grocery store to pay his bill. That is because after working for General Motors for 40 years he was offered a smaller lump sump payout of his pension when the company went bankrupt. He also had his life insurance stripped for parts when his wife became gravely ill and the octogenarian found himself having to work to survive.

Creator Samuel Weidenhofer heard of this story. Sam’s videos are all about changing people’s lives in positive ways. One of Samuel Weidenhofer’s followers nominated Ed Bambas as a potential person whose life could be changed and who was very much deserving of support. What happened next was nothing short of incredible.

EDIT: update with a statement from General Motors — “Mr. Bambas’ personal story is deeply moving, and it’s wonderful to see the outpouring of support for him. We are grateful for what he has contributed to GM and to our country. While we don’t share details about individuals, in 2012 salaried GM retirees who were receiving monthly pension payments were given several options, including continuation of monthly lifetime payments or a lump sum payout, if they preferred. Additionally, starting in 2008, retirees older than 65 receive a $300 monthly lifetime payment for supplemental Medicare coverage.”

Ed Bambas Receives $1.9M In Donations So He Can Retire

Ed Bambas lives in Detroit, works 5 days a week at a local grocery store, and lost his retirement funds and safety net all while dealing with the death of his wife. He is an Army veteran who served his country. He put in 40 long years with General Motors only to be asked to accpet monthly payments or a lump sum payout.

I came across his story over the weekend after I’d just completed a 3-hour training session on my bike. I’d burned close to 1,500 calories and had listened to a few really inspiring podcast episodes along the way. Then I was soaking my legs in my ice-cold pool when I scrolled past Ed’s story and I don’t know if it was my depleted state or what but it hit me like an emotional freight train. This was simultaneously the most heartwarming and the most frustrating story I have come across in years.

On the one hand, seeing the 65,800 donors come together to donate $1,903,860 for Ed Bambas to retire was incredible. But the flip side is him losing his safety net, being an Army vet forced to work 40 hours a week at 88 years old after losing his wife, that just doesn’t sit right with me. He deserved better before now.

Here is the first video from Samuel Weidenhofer where he meets Ed Bambas at the grocery store and learns about his story. Unbeknownst to Ed, Sam already knew much of the backstory.

And here is the follow-up, after Ed’s story struck so many people his GoFundMe became one of the most-funded campaigns in the history of the website. The top two donors so far are Ryan Bartlett of True Classic and Bill Ackman, each having donated $10,000 to the GoFundMe.

As I said, this story is both incredibly heartwarming but infuriating. On the one hand, my faith in humanity is somewhat restored by the charitable acts of complete strangers banding together to change the life of this individual who deserves it. But on the other hand, he has struggled mightily in recent years.

When GM went bankrupt in 2009 he received a lump sum of $300,000, according to CBS News. When his wife got ill that money nearly evaporated immediately due to medical costs and he was also forced to sell their house.

Now he can retire. No thanks to General Motors. But due to the kindness of strangers.