Who is Ed Bambas? 88 year old veteran GoFundMe raises more than $1 million with top donation from William Ackman raking in $10,000

Ed Bambas, the 88-year-old army veteran, is making headlines after the GoFundMe fundraiser for him raised $1 million. Samuel Weidenhofer launched the fundraiser on December 2.

According to WXYZ Detroit's report, Australian influencer Samuel Weidenhofer learned about Ed Bambas through a comment on one of his videos. He flew to Michigan and, with the help of the local influencer Mike McKinstry, they found Ed's location.

Samuel uploaded his interaction with Ed on his Instagram. The video posted on December 1 showed that the man is currently working as a cashier in a Meijer store in Brighton, Michigan.

Weidenhofer asked about his life. Ed Bambas stated that he used to work for General Motors. After he retired in 1999, the company went bankrupt, and he lost his pension. He also worked in the army for years.

Samuel then asked Ed about his wife, and he replied, saying that she passed away 7 years ago, around the time Bambas lost his pension. Ed shared that during that time, the health coverage was also taken back, and he had to sell their house and property to treat his wife.

The elderly man said that he worked at the supermarket five days a week, eight hours a day. The video garnered over 5 million views on TikTok and nearly 12 million views on Instagram.

After going viral, WXYZ Detroit reached out to Ed, who showed pictures of his late wife, Joan, and shared that he worked in Ace Hardware before working as a cashier at Meijer.

Bambas said that he had no choice but to start working as he had a debt to pay back. He also noted that he uses a flip phone and has not used social media at all.

Ed Bambas's GoFundMe fundraiser's top donor is William Ackman

As the video went viral, many netizens donated money to the army veteran. The biggest amount, $10,000, was given by a man named William Ackman. Although the donor shares the same last name as hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, it is unclear whether they are related.

The fundraiser's target was $1 million. As of now, the donated amount has crossed over $1,450,000. Many content creators have shared in the comment section of the viral video that they have donated to Ed Bambas. Charlie Puth also shared on TikTok that he had donated.

Influencer Samuel Weidenhofer shared an update on December 3, stating that he would give the entire amount to Ed Bambas after four or five days. He wanted to create a secure bank account or trust first, so Ed could get a hold of the money and retire.

"Ed will be added to receive the funds once we surprise him in four or five days . We are working tirelessly to make sure we set up a secure bank account or trust for him so the money is very safe and he can flourish in the best way possible," Samuel wrote.

Stay tuned for more updates on the 88-year-old Army veteran Ed Bambas.