Earlier this week, APR spoke with Candice Lash, a 22-year-old woman from Vincent, Alabama who recently launched a GoFundMe campaign for her grandfather, Tom Mimis.
At 86 years old, Mimis still wakes up at 3 a.m. every morning to push carts and bag groceries at the Piggly Wiggly in nearby Columbiana—not because he wants to, but because he has to. According to Lash, her grandfather had to stop working for eight years in order to care for his wife, Joyce, as she dealt with a serious illness. When Joyce passed in 2017, Mimis was left with immense medical debt and had no other choice but to start working again.
Now, Lash–herself a single mother–is hoping that she can give her grandfather the retirement he deserves with some help from her local community.
“My grandfather is by far the most amazing man ever. Honestly, there are no words for how amazing he truly is,” Lash told APR. “He helped raise me, he’s been like a father figure my whole life. He is such a selfless person, he’s always been such a giver, and he loves people so hard and so much. I don’t think anybody has anything bad to say about him, honestly.”
Lash went on to explain how working at 86 years old has begun to take a noticeable toll on her grandfather, and that she worries about his health.
“Every morning he wakes up at 3 a.m. and he gets his coffee, reads his Bible, and then he heads to work. He’s there before anybody else is there, before the store even opens every morning,” Lash explained. “He pushes carts and bags groceries, and I can tell he’s slowing down, he’s walking slower, he’s getting tired easier.”
“He’s just not as peppy as he’s been, and he had some heart issues earlier this year. It really worried me because he wouldn’t slow down because he can’t, he has to work to be able to live,” she continued. “He’s not just doing this because he’s bored, he has to work and he doesn’t want to.”
Lash told APR that she first had the idea to start a GoFundMe campaign when she came across a similar story online.
“I watched this TikTok video about this old man named Ed that was still working, and there was this big TikToker that went and interviewed him at work and was like, ‘why are you still working?’ And he told him it was because he had to, and they ended up raising something like $1,000,000 for him to retire,” Lash explained.
“I was like ‘if they can do that, I can do that.’ I don’t have as big of a social media presence as [that influencer] does, but I was like, ‘you know what? I can try,'” Lash said. “My grandfather has given to me his whole life, and I feel like I need to repay him. I need to tell him that he is appreciated and that I love him.”
Since launching the GoFundMe campaign, Lash has seen an inspiring outpouring of support from her local community.
“When I tell you people have just poured into my grandfather. I mean messages beyond messages and stories of my grandfather when he was younger, when he’s been working at the Piggly Wiggly. Every kid that comes through his line, he gives them a quarter to go put in the little candy machine and get a candy. And if they don’t want candy, he’ll go buy them a balloon… I’ve just heard so many stories,” said Lash.
Lash explained that Mimis was initially hesitant to accept the donations when he first learned of the campaign, but that he has grown excited at the prospect of reaching a retirement that not too long ago had felt all but unobtainable.
“He is surprised. He’s like, ‘what in the world? Is this okay to do?’ and he’s been a little worried. He’s like, ‘we’re just taking their money,’ and I’m like, ‘Tom, no, they’re giving you their money, we’re not taking anything,'” Lash said.
“Now he’s gotten to where every day he’s like, ‘how much more have we gotten? Has it grown any? What are people saying? Let me read the comments,’ and he’s really getting invested in it and he’s getting excited,” she added. “He is still astonished that these people are just giving to him and I’m like, ‘people love you.’ He doesn’t realize how big of a staple he really is [in the community].”
Lash stressed how deeply grateful she is for those who have contributed to the campaign and shown support for her grandfather, recognizing that she can only do so much to help him on her own while still providing for herself and her daughter.
“I cook dinner every night, I make sure food is on the table, but I can’t just take over all of his bills and everything like that, you know?” Lash said. “But doing this, having all of the support we’ve had, I’m just so thankful for these people that have loved my grandfather for so long and that are really showing up for him.”
At the same time, Lash recognizes that her grandfather’s story is not unique, and that it represents deeper problems in both the American healthcare system and how our society cares for its elderly population.
“Honestly, it’s really sad. It breaks my heart because I know that Tom isn’t the only one out there going through something like this,” Lash told APR.
“Nine times out of ten, the old people that we see now have worked their whole entire lives. Every day they’ve worked their butts off, and [the fact that] they’re still working, or that they still have to work, that doesn’t make sense,” she added. “I feel like there should be something different… I just feel like we need to take care of our old people because they helped build us, they set a foundation for us as a younger generation.”
At the time of this article’s publication, Lash’s GoFundMe has received over 175 donations totaling over $10,000. Anyone interested in contributing to the campaign can do so here.
