Donald Johnson
A fundraiser that collected more than $700,000 for a Texas couple has been removed after GoFundMe found that the campaign organiser had falsely presented herself as a neighbour. The appeal was created for 81-year-old Donald Johnson, a viral delivery driver who gained attention after footage showed him delivering lost luggage while working to help pay for his wife Josephine’s cancer treatment. The campaign launched on September 2 and was taken down after GoFundMe received a tip on September 25 questioning the identity of the person behind it, NewsNation reported. The 81-year-old said he regularly worked 14-hour days and drove hundreds of miles to support his wife. My dad is 81 and still works delivering luggage so they can stay afloat,” Amy wrote. The new fundraiser had collected more than $45,000 towards its $100,000 target as of Monday.
Because she believed the family’s circumstances would resonate more strongly with donors if the appeal came from someone outside the family, amy told the platform that she had used the neighbour persona. Because it was already established and we thought that would be the simplest way,” she wrote, that page was originally set up on my account. Amy said the family had restarted the appeal so that people who still wanted to help could contribute directly.
Johnson began delivering lost luggage as an independent contractor about three years ago after his wife was diagnosed with an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer, according to the family.
GoFundMe’s Trust & Safety team found that the organiser, who had identified herself as a neighbour named “Erin Howell”, was actually the couple’s daughter, Amy Johnson. “Our Trust & Safety team identified factual misrepresentations, which directly violate our Terms of Service,” GoFundMe told NewsNation. She said footage showing her father delivering luggage had been provided by a neighbour who wanted to remain anonymous. GoFundMe said that misrepresenting an organiser’s identity or relationship with the beneficiary breaches its terms regardless of the organiser’s intentions. “Taking action like this allows GoFundMe to protect donors’ generosity and our continued ability to support people who are fundraising to help others,” the company said. She also said the neighbour who provided the doorbell footage was real and that the video, her mother’s diagnosis and her father’s job were genuine. GoFundMe, however, said Amy acknowledged during a recorded call that she had posed as a neighbour when setting up the original campaign. “We started over on a new page so your support can actually reach them this time,” she wrote.
Amy maintained that the video was genuine and that the other details in the fundraiser, including her father’s work, her mother’s cancer diagnosis and the family’s financial difficulties, were accurate. The platform removed the campaign and refunded all donations. In the new appeal, she acknowledged the controversy surrounding the original campaign while maintaining that the family’s circumstances had not changed. “My mom has pancreatic cancer. The bills are high. “A lot of you already gave on GoFundMe. We are so grateful. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
After the GoFundMe campaign was removed, Amy created a new fundraiser for her parents on GiveSendGo on Saturday, according to NYP.