A college football fan who was hoping to get a little beer money from a different source than his couch cushions has now raised more than $1 million for charity.
During a September 14 broadcast of ESPN’s “College GameDay” in Ames, Iowa, Carson King held up a sign said reading “Busch Light Supply Needs Replenished” and included his Venmo username.
Images of the sign went viral and donations to King’s account began flooding in. “I didn’t think I would make anything, it all started as a joke,” he told CNN.
That joke turned into a huge campaign which, thanks to matching donations from Busch and Venmo, has now raised more than $1 million.
The #IowaLegend has now raised over $1 million. 7 days left to donate…LET’S GO!!! https://t.co/Vhj3xPVRrK
— Busch Beer (@BuschBeer) September 23, 2019
Instead of keeping the money, King decided to donate the cash to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. But, he did keep the cost of one case of Busch Light for himself.
Carson King’s Venmo account now reads: $178,000. The 24-year-old Iowa State fan turned a College GameDay sign asking for money for Busch Light and funneled all his money into a donation for @UIchildrens Hospital. With Venmo & Busch match, total raised is now $534,000! pic.twitter.com/5pRUaRHLu4
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 20, 2019
In addition to getting a free case of Busch Light, King also got his face on a special can of the beer.
Is it just me or is this can extremely good looking? I can’t be more humbled that @BuschBeer and @venmo are matching our contribution. We’re closing in on A Million for @UIchildrens #ForTheKids pic.twitter.com/Wuzil9Y1Qb
— Carson King (@CarsonKing2) September 21, 2019
“There’s no way any of this would have happened without all the thousands of generous people out there,” King told a Des Moines TV station. “It really puts faith in humanity knowing that people do care and that there’s good people out there.”
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