Have You Known Anyone to use Gofundme

[aprilgail]

Interesting! More questions if you don't mind: Have any of the people you share stuff to ever donated if they didn't know the person? Why do you share it if you personally don't contribute to people you don't know? Would having the cause shared to you by a friend make a difference? Thanks in advance.

My daughters half sister is one of many kids severely injured by the Gardasil vaccine and they had a go fund me page for her since she needed medical equipment and her mom was a single parent and had to take extended leaves from work- I donated but also put it on my facebook and friends of mine that don't even know her donated as well.
I've donated to many over the years, mostly kids or people that are sick, a cat needing surgery, unexpected funeral expenses etc. I do not do for weddings, cars or vacations even when disguised as "mission trips" or anyone's kids sports or other type trip-they are your child, you signed them up for whatever sport etc-you cover the expenses!!

 

[pryncess527]

One just appeared in my Facebook feed -- apparently a friend of a friend is having medical issues.

And because a GoFundMe page was posted by a friend, I can see two "related links" being pushed by FB for two other GFM pages by people I don't know, who I don't think have any friend connections to me at all. I'm guessing GoFundMe paid for those . . . one is to fight cancer, but the other is to help a dad pay his child support!!

 

[TanyaS]

I've contributed at least once to a family I didn't know. A child the same age as one of my children was diagnosed with a brain tumor the summer before they should have been starting the same high school. A GoFundMe account was set up to help the little girl's family travel with her to a different state to get treatment. The story about the girl reminded me of my own child (they had similar interests and hobbies). Even though I didn't know them, I had friends who knew them, so I wasn't concerned about any fraud.

Even if a family has health insurance, the cost of driving back and forth and taking time away from work (especially if you are self-employed) would be stressful for most of us.

 

[smiths02]

I can think of 3. For at least 2 of them, the person who it went to did not sign up himself/herself.
1) Toddler son diagnosed with cancer. Family friend set up Go Fund Me to raise a few thousand to help with medical bills and parent missing work. I did donate.
2) Friend with disabled toddler wanted to buy some specialized equipment to help her learn to walk, etc. I did donate, but I did this instead of say sending the kid a birthday present. It was a very specific amount, not more than $1000 and the Go Fund Me was shut down shortly after reaching goal.
3) An old friend of my mother had a breast implant issue. She claimed it was ruptured but that her insurance would not pay for the procedure. She was asking for $10,000. I didn't donate.

 

[ctinct]

I have given to strangers, but not via GoFundMe. Something like an article in the paper about a child with medical issues, or a family that has lost everything in a fire. Those types of things. Not much and not often, but occasionally. I really don't like the cut that GFM takes. I know they are a business, but it seems to me their cut is pretty significant.

I have seen two very strange requests. One was from a former classmate of my daughters who was transitioning from female to male and wanted his breasts removed. He did not raise enough, but did have his breasts removed. His family was very supportive, so I'm guessing they helped out, in which case, why the need for the GoFundMe?

Another was one that I stumbled across via Facebook. A young woman claimed her son was removed from her home because she missed a Drs. appt. for that son because her other kids had the flu. She wanted money to pay for a lawyer to try to get her son back. That one really rankled me. There obviously were other issues going on; I highly doubt one missed appt. would be the cause for removal of a child.

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

One of my dearest friend's brother had a lung transplant to treat scleroderma. Everything was going well with his recovery when he unexpectedly slipped into a coma and died. He left behind his wife and 3 small children. His brothers set up the gofundme account to help the family with expenses. I absolutely donated to that one!

My dd11's classmate was just diagnosed with leukemia. Another parent set up a gofundme account for the family to help defray the costs. Again, I had no qualms about donating to that fund.

Our HS marching band (of which my ds15 is a member) is marching in the Rose parade this January. My dd11 is also going as a banner carrier. The band does a lot of fundraising, but the cost to families is still pretty large. Another family has 3 kids marching. They set up a gofundme account to help pay their way. Sorry, not donating to that one - even if I didn't have my own 2 kids going!

 

[lakelandgal70]

Yes my sister has used it several times when she runs out of money and wants others to pay for her medicine. She usually wastes her money on Ebay or buying alcohol for her and her bf. Family members have given her money and think that her immediate family is horrible for not helping her. But she is an addict and we know better. I believe gofundme takes a portion of your money too.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

The last time I did was when a friend had a wife with terminal cancer. The account was set up asking for help with medical expenses. People gave generously. I actively sought out people to give. A few months after the wife passed away, the friend told me that he had no expenses--their insurance covered everything--and that he was using the money as a college fund for his kids. He had collected enough to pay for 100% of both kids' expenses for at least 4 years each! I had been so willing to help out because I thought this poor family was going to be left with this horrible financial burden on top of everything else they had been through, but I felt like I had been deliberately misled. It has made me skeptical of these requests ever since, and I hate that.

 

[HarleenQ]

I've seen two this past month.

The first was for an unexpected dog injury that required surgery (ironically, the owner/page creator is a vet). The second is for a friend to move across the country for a fresh start.

 

[pryncess527]

I've seen two this past month.

The first was for an unexpected dog injury that required surgery (ironically, the owner/page creator is a vet). The second is for a friend to move across the country for a fresh start.

Oooh, that reminds me of the best one I've ever seen. Someone I went to HS with posted a GFM link on Facebook that she needed "Emergency surgery for my son who was in an accident"

I was unaware this person had children, and called my mom to see if she knew any details because the GFM didn't have many. My mom informed me that her "son" was her dog. He'd swallowed something he shouldn't have and needed emergency surgery to remove the foreign object.

I love my dogs like they are my children, but I thought use of the word "son" was a bit manipulative . . .

 

[bigbabyblues]

I saw one the other day for a family I don't know but have friends in common with on facebook. They wanted help paying for braces for two children. It said both parents work but their dental insurance doesn't cover braces (welcome to the club), and they have had the braces awhile and made several payments. They were aware of the payments when they got the braces, but it is harder than they thought it would be to make the payment.

I didn't donate to that. My youngest son is also waiting for braces--he is waiting until we get my hospital bill paid off in a couple months so we can use that for the payments.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I love my dogs like they are my children, but I thought use of the word "son" was a bit manipulative . . .

She probably would have gotten more contributions if she had just come out and said "my dog."

some of them are interesting...pay for my kid to study abroad, for school fundraising, to take a vacation, to help pay for a family to get and take care of a pet. Most of that sort of request seems to have been set up for family/friends to contribute because I can't imagine strangers giving out money to someone so they can get a pet.

 

[cornflkgrl]

I don't normally donate to those things. But I donated to a family I didn't know that lived down the street from us. They moved in last year. Their dogs were always running loose and it irritated me. Then, their trailer caught fire while they were out one night and their dogs, cat, and all their belongings were lost (as well as the trailer being a total loss from what I can tell. Its been sitting there for weeks with busted out windows, burned up doors, skirting, etc) When I saw on the news she was a single mom and they were talking about losing their pets, I felt really bad. So I donated to her GFM. I can't imagine having that happen. Insurance wouldn't even cover the amount to move one of these darn things off the lot!

 

[Melissakay1q]

I'm FB friends with a girl who set up a GFM initially for a sick relative, i think. She updates it occasionally to change the whole profile to whatever new tragedy is happening to others around her or in her family. The most recent one had a laundry list of troubles, personal and family, that somehow warranted donations. I do not think anyone has donated, ever.

 

[Hibiscus]

My daughters half sister is one of many kids severely injured by the Gardasil vaccine and they had a go fund me page for her since she needed medical equipment and her mom was a single parent and had to take extended leaves from work- I donated but also put it on my facebook and friends of mine that don't even know her donated as well.
I've donated to many over the years, mostly kids or people that are sick, a cat needing surgery, unexpected funeral expenses etc. I do not do for weddings, cars or vacations even when disguised as "mission trips" or anyone's kids sports or other type trip-they are your child, you signed them up for whatever sport etc-you cover the expenses!!

IIRC, there have been no verifiable "injuries" from Gardasil.

(However, I could have always missed something - do you have a reputable source detailing these many grievous injuries from a safe vaccine?)

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Have you known anyone to use Gofundme? Interesting to see what kinds of things people want others to help pay for.

Yes. Both were medical expenses for tragic circumstances. I knew both people personally.

 

[Mrs Eeyore]

Ugh, so many GFM requests make me see red. We struggle and go into debt for our kids and their activities and other people feel entitled to ask us for money for the very things we can't afford for ourselves?! I recall one nasty young fellow who treated my daughter badly asking for money so he could travel to an athletic competition, and I was delighted to see he didn't raise a single penny. Another acquaintance wanted to send her daughter to dance school. Try refinancing your mortgage like we did when our kids needed something! I also recall posts that were quickly deleted from these boards from people who wanted DISers to pay for their vacations. Just...argh. Crowdfunding is an important tool for many of the examples given above: people who need help to rise above bad luck, illness, tragedy. But there will always be fools who try to take advantage of it out of greed and their gall really ticks me off.

Sorry for the rant (slinks back into lurkdom)...

 

[ronandannette]

The last time I did was when a friend had a wife with terminal cancer. The account was set up asking for help with medical expenses. People gave generously. I actively sought out people to give. A few months after the wife passed away, the friend told me that he had no expenses--their insurance covered everything--and that he was using the money as a college fund for his kids. He had collected enough to pay for 100% of both kids' expenses for at least 4 years each! I had been so willing to help out because I thought this poor family was going to be left with this horrible financial burden on top of everything else they had been through, but I felt like I had been deliberately misled. It has made me skeptical of these requests ever since, and I hate that.

A Gofundme collected upwards of 6-figures? That is astonishing...

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

My best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months ago. She had a double mastectomy and is now doing chemo.

One of her other friends set one up for her. She's gotten a decent amount of money from it. She's been using it in place of the money she would have been making had she been able to work through this time.

Situations like hers are one reason I believe in these things.

 

[jevs]

The best GFM in Australia was for Duncan Storrar (google it) that raised $60k. It was set up because he had the audacity to ask an audience question on Q&A and was hounded by members of the panel and the press for it - so much that he was on suicide watch SMH.

From memory a proportion of the money was donated to the Father Bob foundation, the rest was going on his kids education.