In the sweltering Louisiana heat on Memorial Day, Karen Swensen, a former news anchor at WWL-TV, was arriving at a Louisiana Winn Dixie grocery store to shop when she spotted Dillon McCormick, a 90-year-old Air Force veteran, pushing shopping carts outside.
"I was thinking how can this be? How can somebody who's clearly lived a long time and worked so hard be out here in this heat pushing carts," Swensen said.
According to the heat index for that day, it felt like 111 degrees. Swensen was already heading home to put her groceries away but couldn't shake the feeling of seeing McCormick outside, pushing the shopping carts, so she returned.
Swensen approached McCormick and learned he worked at the store to make ends meet. He has been pushing shopping carts outside for 23 years. Living off $1,100 in Social Security each month, McCormick's bills totaled $2,500. He worked at Winn Dixie to fill the gap.
"Everybody has to eat," said McCormick.
Determined to help, Swensen recorded their conversation and shared it on social media, quickly starting a GoFundMe page for McCormick. Within 24 hours, the fundraiser had amassed more than $244,000 from strangers across the country.
McCormick said he was grateful for the donations and wished he could thank each individual person.
But he was also cautious at the beginning. When Swensen called to tell him about the fundraiser, he hung up, unsure if it was real. To reassure him, Swensen enlisted the help of Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto.
With the sheriff's help, Swensen got McCormick to understand that the outpouring of generosity was real and she wanted to get that money into his bank account.
Swensen, who retired from WWL-TV two years ago after being one of the main anchors for 20 years, was not surprised by the community's response.
"So often, we think of ourselves as divided. Right? Us and them. No, this was 'we' and 'our.' We take care of our own not only in Louisiana, but this entire nation banded together. I looked at who was donating… it's the left, it's the right, it's everything in between. We united for the right reason," she said.
McCormick plans to give a quarter of the money to the Catholic church near his home. Despite his newfound financial security, he has no plans to retire.
"If you stop working, you will stop living," he said. "The good die young, so it looks like I'm gonna be here a long time."
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