A Texas woman presenting herself as a concerned neighbor helped raise more than $700,000 for her elderly father, who had gone viral as a delivery driver working to cover his wife’s cancer expenses. The fundraiser was later removed over what GoFundMe called “factual misrepresentations.”
GoFundMe took down the campaign supporting Donald Johnson and his wife, Josephine, after receiving a Sept. 25 tip questioning who was actually behind the fundraiser, NewsNation reported Monday.
The platform’s Trust & Safety team determined that the organizer, who identified herself as a neighbor named “Erin Howell,” was in fact the couple’s daughter, Amy Johnson.
“Our Trust & Safety team identified factual misrepresentations, which directly violate our Terms of Service,” GoFundMe told NewsNation.
Amy told the fundraising site that she adopted the neighbor identity because she thought donors might respond more strongly to the family’s situation if the appeal came from someone outside the family, according to NewsNation.
Amy said a neighbor provided the doorbell-camera footage and asked not to be identified.
She maintained that the video was genuine and that the other information shared in the appeal—including her father’s work, her mother’s cancer diagnosis and the family’s financial hardship—was accurate.
Amy used an existing GoFundMe account to collect the donations, changing the account’s username for the campaign.
GoFundMe, however, said that inaccurately describing an organizer’s identity or connection to a beneficiary violates its rules, even when there is no stated intention to deceive.
“As a result, the fundraiser has been removed and all donors have been refunded. Ensuring GoFundMe is a safe and trusted place to give and receive help is our top priority,” the company said.
“Taking action like this allows GoFundMe to protect donors’ generosity and our continued ability to support people who are fundraising to help others.”
The fundraiser went live Sept. 2 and brought in the donations before GoFundMe disabled the page and returned the money to contributors.
The story gained attention after home-security video appeared to capture Johnson carrying a customer’s misplaced luggage to a front door in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The resident seemed surprised to see the elderly delivery worker at the home.
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According to the family, Johnson began working as an independent contractor delivering lost luggage to customers about three years ago, following his wife’s diagnosis with an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer.
The 81-year-old said he often worked 14-hour shifts and drove hundreds of miles each day to help support Josephine. In the process, he put more than 200,000 miles on a vehicle that now has serious mechanical problems.
After GoFundMe removed the original page, Amy started a new fundraiser for her parents on GiveSendGo Saturday, where she directly addressed the dispute.
“My mom has pancreatic cancer. The bills are high. My dad is 81 and still works delivering luggage so they can stay afloat,” Amy wrote.
She assured prospective donors that “the neighbor story is real. The doorcam video is real. The diagnosis is real. The job is real.”
“A lot of you already gave on GoFundMe. We are so grateful. That page was originally set up on my account because it was already established and we thought that would be the simplest way,” she wrote.
“When the name on the page was updated, GoFundMe treated it as a discrepancy. We offered documentation. They refunded the donations anyway.”
However, GoFundMe said Amy acknowledged on a recorded call that she posed as a neighbor to set up the original page, NewsNation reported.
She acknowledged on GiveSendGo that the refunds were frustrating for donors and the family alike, insisting nothing about her mother’s treatment or her father’s age and work had changed, and that her parents still need help.
“We started over on a new page so your support can actually reach them this time. If you already gave, thank you. If you can, even a little, it goes to her care and to getting him off those stairs,” Amy wrote.
“We will post updates. Thank you for the kindness you already showed this family.”
The GiveSendGo fundraiser had raised more than $45,000 of its $100,000 goal as of Monday.