81-year-old Waitress Couldn’t Retire, so a Stranger Raised Over $300K for Her

April 15, 2025 journo

An 81-year-old restaurant server named Betty in Pittsburgh must have been smiling the rest of her shift: a woman had given her an outsized, $40 tip.

She might have thought that was the end of their interaction, but Betty could not have imagined what that $40 tip would lead to.

Tamie Konzier, a Pittsburgh-based esthetician and TikToker, had taken her son Leo to eat at a local restaurant called Eat’n Park, and when she heard Betty confide to another customer that she struggled to finish out her shifts from back pain, but couldn’t retire from financial difficulties. The small $910 social security check in the mail wasn’t enough.

Moved by Betty’s plight, Konzier whipped out her phone and pressed record. “If I make one video go viral, let it be this one.”

Describing to her fans Betty’s situation, she announced she’d give any proceeds that her TikTok Creator Rewards Program might generate from the post to Betty, and post-scripted the video by offering Betty $40, or “all the money in my purse.”

Betty was moved and grateful, and ensured Konzier that even at 81 she can “still outdo all these whippersnappers.”

@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

Konzier got her wish: the post went viral. Within 24 hours she had received so many requests for a place to donate, she had to set up a GoFundMe to channel the generosity.

At $140,000 she went to tell Betty the news.

“I think I better get a financial adviser!” Betty said, clearly stunned. “You don’t know what this is going to help me for.”

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Konzier posted a couple of updates on the situation, and every time the GoFundMe swelled until it reached $300,000.

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

“I can not express how grateful Betty is for her retirement fund!” Konzier wrote in the final update on the fundraiser. “My lawyer, Max Petrunya, and I have set Betty up with an Elder Law attorney, Colin Morgan of Julian Gray Associates. We are in the process of setting up a trust fund for Betty so her social services are not affected. Thank you again for your donations, we expect to close the go fund me at the end of April.”

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