Supermarket worker dad mocked in prank receives $170,000 as GoFundMe explodes after viral video
LANSING, MICHIGAN: Strangers have poured more than $170,000 into a GoFundMe for Walt Z, a Michigan supermarket worker and father of four, after a viral video showed him being filmed against his will.
The fundraiser began as a gesture of sympathy and has swelled far beyond anyone’s expectations.
Walt himself says he is stunned by the outpouring of support. The clip that sparked the donations has since been deleted from the original Instagram account, but its fallout continues to grow.
Un trabajador de un supermercado decidió plantarle cara a un influencer que estaba gastándole una broma para reírse de él. “Probablemente tú ganes dinero con esto. Yo ni siquiera puedo pagar mi hipoteca y tengo 4 hijos en casa”. Sus palabras han conmovido tanto a miles de personas que han organizado una campaña en GoFundMe para ayudarlo, con la que ya han recaudado más de 70.000$.
— ceciarmy (@ceciarmy) October 29, 2026
Influencer’s store prank backfires
In the viral video, the creator who goes by 'Three Of A Kind' approached a Red Baron supermarket employee who was busy arranging products on the shelves and staged a fake payment using his phone.
After playing an Apple Pay sound, he acted as though he had taken $20 from the worker and thanked him for the money.
The employee objected when he realized the encounter was being filmed, warning the creator that he would report him.
But the jokes continued, even as the worker tried to explain why the situation was upsetting him.
He said his shift had already stretched an hour beyond its scheduled end and that he was missing time with his children because of work.
“I got kids at home that are going to bed without me right now,” he said.
The worker also described what awaited him the following morning: a 5 a.m. start and visits to ten more stores.
He feared the confrontation could put his job at risk if the supermarket decided to remove him.
The exchange grew more pointed when he suggested that the creator could be earning money from the footage while he struggled to cover his own expenses.
“You’re probably making money off this. I can’t even pay my mortgage and I got four kids at home,” he said.
After the clip circulated online, viewers criticized the decision to make the worker the subject of a prank while he was trying to do his job.
The creator's original Instagram post was eventually taken down.
UPDATE: $100,000 has been raised for Walt, the Red Barron employee harassed to the breaking point by a nuisance streamer. The owner of this GoFund Me has made contact with him and we have reached out as well. Walt is “overwhelmed” by the generosity. America is still great. Fundraiser: https://t.co/GivLu7vcRz
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 29, 2026
Gofundme for viral worker takes off!
The backlash to the prank was followed by a substantial show of support for the employee, with a GoFundMe campaign launched by Luke Oakenshield collecting over $170,000 at the time of writing.
Oakenshield said he had no personal connection to the worker but wanted to help ease his financial worries while the controversy escalated.
He also wanted to provide a safety net in case the viral video put the man's job at risk, making clear that he would not keep any of the donations.
Finding the intended recipient was the first challenge, as the worker's identity had not initially been revealed in the clip.
Oakenshield appealed to the public for help locating him so the money could be delivered directly to him.
That search has since been resolved.
In a subsequent update, Oakenshield identified the worker as Walt Z, from Michigan and said he had been overwhelmed by the generosity shown to him.
Walt also expressed his gratitude to those who contributed to the fundraiser. However, Oakenshield later confirmed that the worker and his family had requested privacy.
