Man's awkward blunder after mistakenly donating £10k to charity instead of £100
A man has revealed his horror after discovering that instead of donating a generous £117 ($150) to a good cause, he accidentally pledged ten times that amount. Making it a very, very generous contribution of over £11,750 ($15,000). Sharing the mix-up on social media, Michael, 34, explained that when he and his wife lived in San Francisco, they lived next door to a retired veteran named Joe.
He wrote: "For context, Joe is a white American guy and he's also a devout Hindu priest. One day I ran into Joe in my hallway, and he told me about this charity he manages for a community in Bangladesh. I wanted to support my neighbor and the charity, so I asked Joe to send me the GoFundMe link."
"The next day at work, I go on the GoFundMe page and donate $150. Or so I thought. Moments later, I got a text on my phone warning me of an unusually large transaction on my credit card. I'm confused and swipe to open the text message. It says I have made a payment of $15,041 to GoFundMe."
"Immediately I'm sweating. How could I have donated fifteen thousand dollars? I spend the next 10-15 minutes retracing my steps, and finally, I realize my credit card starts with the numbers 4 and 1. It seems I had accidentally started typing my credit card information while my cursor was still in the donation box, and just like that 150 became 15041. Yikes."
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Michael received lots of praise from thankful people in Bangladesh (Lotus Ministry/GoFundMe)Upon realizing his mistake, the very generous man called GoFundMe's support line in a panic but was told that this sort of thing often happens and it could easily be rectified and he would receive a refund in three to seven working days. However, despite the refund being underway, the charity would see the initial donation go in and out of the fund.
Michael continued: "I told him that's a big problem, as the entire GoFundMe had hardly raised that much at that point. Surely they will notice their fundraiser doubling overnight? My plan was to knock on Joe's door the following morning to give him the full story so that he could pass it along to his contacts in Bangladesh. But when I woke up the next morning, I looked at my phone and saw I had 40+ notifications on Facebook."
"Someone had sent me a friend request, had liked many of my old posts, and had sent me many messages. Immediately I was concerned when I saw that the individual messaging me had a Hindu name, but I never could have imagined what I saw when I opened his first message..."
"The man had sent me a video of himself from Bangladesh, surrounded by dozens of impoverished and hungry people holding bags of food, thanking me BY NAME for my generous donation. A big round of applause for Michael. At this point, I've leaped out of my bed and I'm pacing."
"Part of me wants to scream, part of me wants to crack up laughing. I start swiping through the man's messages, and it is picture after picture after picture of poor Bangladeshis thanking me for my kind donation. Literally hundreds of photos of frail, elderly, disabled, and malnourished individuals holding signs with my name. Thank you, Michael. Thank you, Michael."
Filled with guilt, Michael decided he couldn't go from donating £10,000 to just £100 again, so decided to give £1,000 instead. He wrote: "The charity's host was incredibly gracious and understanding, and he explained to me that $1,500 goes very far in Bangladesh for urgent food relief. Ultimately I think the whole experience was a win-win. I helped a great cause, and I got a funny story out of it."
Michael shared his story and helped raise even more money (Lotus Ministry/GoFundMe)Michael shared the awkward story on Reddit, where it was met with much appreciation and offers to also donate. One person wrote: "Best post on here in AGES. Thank you for the great story and for helping out those folks. $1,500 is still very generous. Man, this got me good. I hope you didn't get behind on bills or anything after this mix up." Someone else added: "Holy S**t Man! That put a pit in my stomach just reading. I cant imagine how you felt. LOL. S**t happens! Glad your neighbor was understanding and good for you for going the extra mile."
Since Michael shared his story the GoFundMe page has been inundated with donations and messages citing the Redditor as the sole reason for their pledge. One person who donated $5 wrote: "I am brought here by Michael. These stories refresh my hope in the world." And someone else who pledged $30, added: "Michael's story just warmed my heart. I know it's not much, but I know that every dollar gets used."
If you would like to donate, visit the page here.
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