Pittsburgh Woman Helps Raise Nearly $250,000 To Help 81-Year-Old Restaurant Worker Retire

The power of social media on display.

In the many stories that I’ve written, I’ve often touched on the negative aspects of social media. The disconnection, the overwhelming negative discourse, and the consistent comparison that people put themselves through… sometimes you wonder if it’s all even worth it?

But then you see a story like this, and not only does it give you the feeling that social media’s existence garners some positivity, it also lets you know that there are still plenty of good people in this world. Though we might hear more about the bad apples than the good ones, there are still plenty of good apples.

One of them goes by the name of Tamie Konzier. She and her son went to a restaurant called Eat’n Park, and noticed that an 81-year-old woman was the one of the establishment’s servers – and she could barely walk. The waitress’ name is Betty, and she told them that she was still working because her monthly social security payments didn’t take care of all of her bills.

So Konzier made a TikTok rallying people to donate money to help Betty retire:

@tamie.lynn Hoping we can help this sweet lady retire! I think Jen Hamilton could help me do it but I can’t tag her! #viralvideo #fyp #jenhamilton ♬ original sound – Tamie Konzier

Sure enough, the TikTok went viral, and Tamie quickly rushed to put together a GoFundMe for all of the people that were asking for it in the comment section of her videos. So she did just that, and kept the description on the official “Help 81-Year-Old Waitress Betty Retire” GoFundMe short and sweet:

“My son and I met Betty today. She is a waitress at a local restaurant in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. She’s 81 years old and we think she deserves to retire. This is a GoFundMe to help her retire.”

In a second TikTok, Konzier provided a teary-eyed update, and let people know that everyone that had reached out about Betty reassured her that the elderly woman was as sweet as could be, and was certainly deserving of all of the money. Tamie explained that she was “overwhelmed with joy” seeing all of the generous giving that was directed towards Betty:

@tamie.lynn Not much of an update but it’s all I have for now! #betty ♬ original sound – Tamie Konzier

The GoFundMe had a $25,000 goal… and it’s currently raised $248,064.

In the latest TikTok that Tamie Konzier posted, she let everyone know that Betty is now aware of the money that has been raised to help her retire. The 81-year-old is grateful (and is allegedly in communication with a financial advisor), but also told Tamie that she wants to continue to work because it “keep her going.” That being said, Betty plans to cut down her hours, and that’s all thank to the thousands of dollars that have been raised with the GoFundMe to be gifted to her.

Gotta love when social media shows it’s good side, and shoutout to Betty on her well-deserved (semi) retirement:

@tamie.lynn Replying to @Julie ♬ original sound – Tamie Konzier