She pledged to a charity for likes and retweets. Now she needs $50,000 to donate
After chatting with a friend who spent Thanksgiving in the hospital with an ailing grandparent, Danni Messina wanted to do something nice for someone.
“I have been fortunate enough to not need anything this holiday season, but so many other people do,” Messina told McClatchy. “It’s time for a change. It’s time for me to start giving back.”
So the 19-year-old college student posted a pledge on Twitter: For each favorite her tweet received, she’d donate 25 cents to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. For each retweet, she’d donate 50 cents.
this time of year is about giving - this year, I am giving back to St. Jude & the families who are supported by their amazing services
— dan (@danni_messina) November 25, 2017
every favorite : $.25
every retweet : $.50
go give. go st. Jude!!
Messina, who studies communications at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., expected the drive to cost her a $1,000 donation once her sorority sisters joined in.
Then it blew up.
“I was talking to my friends about it, actually, and they started retweeting it, and then it spread and spread,” she told McClatchy. “Then at one point all the people who were retweeting it were people I didn’t even know – kinda crazy to think about.”
By the time Messina announced that she was cutting it off, the online pledge drive had her on the hook for around $50,000 in donations, she estimated. Her original tweet had 348,000 favorites and 151,000 retweets as of Monday.
“I had absolutely no idea there would be that much support around the idea,” Messina wrote on GoFundMe. “So, unfortunately, I don't have the funds to support this.”
She set up a page Sunday on the fundraising site to collect donations for St. Jude with a $50,000 goal. By midday Monday, it had collected more than $800.
Some on Twitter were critical of Messina’s decision to seek help on GoFundMe.
Uggh... we from an older generation have a saying.. so you wrote a check you can’t cash did ya? It is a shame.. St Jude is a great cause! Too bad you decided to make a commitment that you can’t honor.
— Austin (@austink89) November 27, 2017
So you’re not giving to St. Jude, you’re going to have other people donate to your go fund me page?
— Ryan Johnson (@ryanjohnson02) November 26, 2017
Others accused Messina of being more interested in online fame than in aiding the charity. But others posted in her support.
Instead of putting this girl out like a hundred thousand bucks we should all just donate the 50 cents or a dollar to exceed the goal hahaha
— new humzah azeem (@paloobi) November 27, 2017
Why are y’all hating on her? I don’t see any of the haters posting a single thing about St. Jude’s. Maybe she doesn’t have the money to donate and she didn’t expect it too get this big. At least she is making people aware of the cause. Don’t see any one of y’all haters donating.
— Avery (@never_outslayed) November 27, 2017
This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 10:31 AM with the headline "She pledged to a charity for likes and retweets. Now she needs $50,000 to donate."