Community Corner

Donations Pour in for Bullied NY Bus Monitor

Three days after unsettling footage of an elderly bus monitor being bullied was posted on YouTube, donations to send the 68-year-old widow on 'a vacation of a lifetime' are nearing $500,000.

A YouTube video showing a group of New York middle schoolers taunt an elderly bus monitor was nearing 4,000,000 views three days after it was posted on June 19.

The kids in the video use harsh language, at one point even telling the 68-year-old widow, "You don't have a family because they all killed themselves because they don't want to be near you." 

As the YouTube hits have shot up so too have donations in support of Karen Klein, who, throughout the whole ordeal, did not show any emotion apart from holding back a few tears.

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As of Friday morning, 22,000 funders had donated $472,000 to an online account with the description, "Lets give her something she will never forget, a vacation of a lifetime!"

Some of the comments left on the fundraising website:

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  • Norm: My contribution is my vote against bullying. A fine example of grace under pressure by Karen.
  • Benjamin: Heart goes out to you. I wish I was on that bus, I’d have put them kids in their place.
  • Lindsay: Kids can be cruel. Your story moved us in Kitchener, ON, Canada

Have you seen the footage or heard of Karen's story? What was your initial reaction?


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