McCarty was inspired to help Marion after seeing a similar success story on TikTok, and launched a GoFundme to help the elderly fellow. Here’s how he raised the money and what Marion’s response was.
1 Bug Boy Fame
McCarty owns an extermination business called Bug Boys, and has 300,000 followers on TikTok who seem to enjoy the many creepy crawly videos he posts. “I post bug videos,” McCarty says. “Really bad infestations of bugs like termites. Fascinating videos with close ups. My TikTok has blown up and it has gotten me (work) in four states. Some of my videos have gotten seven, eight million views. That’s how I got a huge following. I have the largest TikTok following in the world of all pest control sites. I’m up to 270,000 followers.”
2 Lucky Meeting
After meeting Marion at the Walmart and having a chat with him, McCarty said he wanted to help Navy veteran and widower Marion “do the things he would love to do” in his twilight years. “Here is this man and he is still grinding and I can’t even find good help,” McCarty says. ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb
“Here is this man, 82, and I was intrigued and he was nice and personable. So I instinctively pulled out my camera and I started filming him and asking him questions.”
3 Making People Happy
Marion was happy to talk to McCarty. “At work I’ll have a casual conversation with all my customers,” Marion says. “That is part of dealing with the public. As big as that store is, a lot of them are already stressed out. My job is to make them happy and that is what I try to do.”
McCarty was inspired to help Marion after seeing another TikTok fundraiser where crowdfunding resulted in an elderly lady receiving $100,000 in donations. “The lady only had about 70 followers on TikTok,” McCarty says. “She went up to 130,000 in a week because of the video. I thought it would be nice to use this platform to help someone in our area.”
3 GoFundMe Launched
McCarty started a GoFundMe for Marion. As a business owner … I was astounded seeing this little older man still grinding. Working eight to nine hour shifts," McCarty said on the GoFundMe page. Marion has been working at Walmart for 16 years and says he likes to “keep busy and keep his bills paid.” The crowdfunding efforts were successful—McCarty met his fundraising goal in a few days and people continued to donate money after the fact. “It’s a miracle,” Marion says. “What else can I say? I can’t wrap my mind around it.”
4 Christmas Miracle
By Christmas Day, the fund had raised more than $110,000. “I didn’t plan on doing it,” says McCarty. “I just set the ball in motion. I had no idea it would blow up like that. It got 400,000 views the day I posted it.” “I’m still having a hard time with it,” Marion says. “Even though I know what’s going down. Why was I the one that he picked? The answer to that is God.”
“I didn’t do anything extraordinary,” McCarty adds. “Anyone could have done it.”
5 Viral Fame
Marion, who has since retired from Walmart, is still in shock. “This thing went viral,” Marion says. “It went around the world. I had a person from Ireland even called. He donated $3,000. He said, people love you Butch. I can’t thank Rory and the people who donated enough. All I can tell you is the good Lord has blessed me for what I did in my younger years. What this is going to do for me at 82 years-old is allow me to pay all my bills off, including my house and I will have nothing but my utility bills. I’ll be able to travel to Florida whenever I feel like going and see my kids. I’m very, very blessed.”
