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The online campaign raising money to send a bullied New York school bus monitor on vacation has surpassed its goal – by more than half a million dollars.
The rapidly growing “Lets Give Karen – The bus monitor – H Klein A Vacation!” campaign on Indiegogo.com, a site devoted to raising money for various causes, reached nearly $550,000 by midday Friday, just two days after it was started. The original goal was set at $5,000.
The campaign will remain open to donations for 28 more days.
Karen Klein, 68, who earns about $15,000 a year as a bus monitor, said, “It’s a nice gesture, but I don’t know if it’s real or not,” after hearing about the donations. “It sounds too good to be true.”
"This is definitely the highest-grossing and fastest-grossing campaign we've ever seen," Indiegogo.com spokesperson Rose Levy told msnbc.com, adding that the site has more than 5,000 campaigns at any given time. "Obviously this particular campaign went viral very quickly, which is a big reason for its success."
In the four years since the company was founded, Levy said, a number of campaigns related to bullying prevention have gained traction on the website.
Indiegogo keeps 4 percent of funds raised as a platform fee if a campaign meets or exceeds its goal. If a campaign fails to meet its goal, Indiegogo takes 9 percent of the total funds raised.
The fund for Klein was set up after a 10-minute, profanity-laced video depicting her being relentlessly bullied and driven to tears by four middle school boys went viral earlier this week.
Where to go with a half-million-dollar vacation budget
Ashley Austell, one of more than 24,000 people who donated to the campaign, said it was the least she could do.
“I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘What if that were my grandma?’” Austell, 24, told msnbc.com in an email after she saw the video. “When she cried, I started bawling because it was so heartbreaking. You felt for this woman. She could be any of our grandmothers.”
Austell, who lives in Arlington, V.A., donated $100 because she “wanted to be part of a whole world showing Karen Klein that people care about her.”
Two of the students and the father of a third implicated in the harassment have issued apologies to Klein via statements to police in Greece, N.Y.
“I am so sorry for the way I treated you,” one of the students named Josh said in statement. “When I saw the video I was disgusted and could not believe I did that. I will never treat anyone this way again.”
Another student, Wesley, said he feels “really bad” about the incident.
The father of a third student said, “I would like it if he could do some work for you or help you in some way,” in a statement to police. “I am embarrassed, angry and sad about the awful way he treated you.”
Two of the four boys who were taped tormenting a school bus monitor have apologized for their behavior in statements released through police.
In the video, four students taunted Klein with a tirade of verbal insults and physical ridicule that included one comment from a boy who said Klein does not have family because “they all killed themselves because they didn’t want to be near you.”
Klein said her son committed suicide 10 years ago.
The video has sparked disbelief among viewers and anger targeted at the four students, noted Capt. Steve Chatterton of the Greece, N.Y., Police Department. “Their families have been threatened. Their brothers and sisters have been threatened,” he said at a press conference Thursday.
Klein said she doesn’t want to see those boys expelled but would like to see them banned from riding the school bus for at least a year and not allowed to participate in team sports.
At a press conference Thursday, school officials said they are still investigating the incident, but promised strong disciplinary action.
In addition to the mass compassion for Klein, Southwest Airlines has offered to fly her and nine other people to Disneyland for free.
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Leave a Comment:
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what about what she ans. "i hope they get the same bullying as they gave me" did that come from a nice old lady? i feel all gave money, gave to the wrong person. no one who had been bullied would never say that! thank you.
As usual, the pendulum of opinion/reaction/indignation has swung, and the result is completely overblown - on all sides of the Peanut Gallery. The only person showing any perspective here is Grandma, the victim.
The kids (mouthy disrepectful and just plain LAME picking on an old lady) are totally weak because their parents are totally weak. Who picks on a grandma? Sick felons or out-of-control kids trying to impress each other. Their apologies are weak. The school response is weak.
Back in the day, I never would have imagined doing something like this. Yet, if I had, my Dad would have tanned my hide; and I would have personally apologized to Grandma, while snot ran out of my crying nose and blood oozed out of my hide. Of course, nowadays, my Dad would be the one heading for jail...LAME!!!!!!!
Note to self: Stay the heck out of Greece, NY. No one worth meeting there.
Just a example of Poor Parenting ... Kids should get 1000Hrs of community service in a Retirement Home ...This is not over Blown.. these Kids Deserve all the Negative their getting.. Enough is Enough
People always ask me..."as a homeschooler, aren't you concerned about "socialization" for your kids"? Not so much. This is just an example of what kids are immersed in today.
your kids will get their asses beat helicopter mom
Kids these days have no respect for elders, pregnant women or disabled people. What the hell are parents teaching their kids? These kids should be a prime example and be punished for doing what they did to that poor lady. Parents should be held accountable as well...
I work in a Middle School. The kids do get carried away and try to top each other in an attempt to be part of the so-called "in-group". I believe that they sometimes do not know how bad it is. However,I think that the media, i.e. television, music, that shows hostility and extreme bad manners causes kids to think it is OK to act that way. Think about the "extreme fighting", the "bad girls" shown screaming obscenities at each other. The kids grow up thinking that this is appropriate behavior, so they model it.
That being said, these kids need to be disciplined and need to understand that they can hurt people with their mouths. They actually need to learn a little compassion. The discipline that this victim wants is OK, but I think they need to do some service time working with disabled people or animals in a shelter for example.
Where is the 4th suspect? Any apology coming? I guess not.
What is disturbing is that the kids were laughing while taunting this woman. I only wish that they had made some anti religious, race or ethnic remark so that they could have incurred additional charges. Apparently a known person to the kids since they knew there was a suicide in her past. I give one father kudos for acknowledging his son's part in this but where are the other parents? Again a small town I am guessing so the neighborhoods will take care of their own.
These kids need some real help......my heros today are the ones who step in and end the abuse. I asked a 13 year old yesterday what he would have done and he said, "Nothing".....when I asked why he explained that he didn't want to lose friends!!!! These are NOT the friends you want.
One talk show host described these kids as already dead!
Once again, the parent stepped in and took the blows! You have raised nothing but gang members who are chicken when left alone to fend for themselves.
The pics seem to show a kid that looks like Obama`s son.Hummmmmmm! Wondering now.
Jerry.
You went there?
This is a canary in a coal mine. The parents of these kids simply failed to raise their children properly. It is a symptom of a much larger issue in this country. It really is just the tip of the iceberg. The lack of effective and involved parenting of children is a disease spreading across this country. Parents seem to believe that their kids will grow up just fine all by themselves. This parental disengagement is getting worse. We are seeing the fruit of that today. Too many parents are completely ignorant as to what their real role is and how best to teach their children. As a country our moral structure is degrading. As I said, this is a canary in a coal mine.
You are clueless, you think this has never happened before? I am 51 years old and this same stuff happened when I was a kid, nothing new, just more press these days....
No, I do not believe this is the first time this has happened before. I teach High School and have found over the years that this type of rude and inconsiderate behavior is increasing. It is especially prevalent with kids who have uninvolved parents. Had those kids had smarter more involved parents the likelihood of aberrant behavior would be drastically reduced. The fact that this behavior has occurred in the past,and will occur again, is simply evidence that there are far too many ignorant and incompetent parents out there.As I said, my experience actually dealing with kids every day shows that the trend is increasing. Perhaps you sir are clueless. The fact is our moral structure is declining. It does have an impact in the behavior of young people. This video is evidence of that fact.
You do remind me of the person who stumbles over the truth, picks himself up, and walks away as if nothing happened. Good luck with that.
You would think these kids would know by now that any wrong thing they do or say is bound to end up on YouTube or other social networking site. That's going to follow you guys for the rest of your lives. So, good luck on getting into a good school or landing a job. Good luck with life, because the way you are starting out, you're going to need it.
These four children and their families life are now threatened under anger targeted! They should bring a civil action against the person who make their faces and names public on INDIEGOGO!!!
Yeah, that's the spirit - perpetuate the whole sordid mess. Sue somebody. Way to miss the point.
Thanks for the tip. I have never been to the site and would have never seen their names or faces until your post. Maybe you should be added to that lawsuit.
Get real, the families are partially responsible. There is now way my children would have been a part of that act. In fact they would have been in a fight with the kids because they would have tried to stop such cruelty.
You sir do not see the real story here.
Thanks for the tip. I have never been to the site and would have never seen their names or faces until your post. Maybe you should be added to that lawsuit.
Get real, the families are partially responsible. There is now way my children would have been a part of that act. In fact they would have been in a fight with the kids because they would have tried to stop such cruelty.
You sir do not see the real story here.
Must say this -
When I was a kid, if kids acted like this, their parents would march them down to the woman and make them apologize, and then make them mow her lawn and take out her trash for a month,if not a year.
WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?!!!
One father apologized FOR the son?! He should have made the son apologize!
Due to the obvious total lack of parenting, charge the parents with criminal harrassment and making death threats.
First my heart goes out to Mrs Klein, I hope that you might be able to recover from this. I believe that the students involved along with their parents should be made to attend a bullying program. Behaviors and attitudes are learned at home. They must be made accountable. The school district has bullying guidlines and to follow them to the max. School District Transportation Depts. are held to strict standards by New York State and more Anti-Bullying training is certainly warranted for all the drivers and matrons. My question in all of this is where was the driver in all of this? As a driver myself, I would have taken action, spoken up, pulled over or turned that bus around and gone back to the school to have security waiting. I hope that the Greece School District, parents and students get their acts together and not let something like this happen again. What a crying shame!
I think these kids are a reflection of what society has become. It may have a basis in the home, but there are so many other influences outside of that which contribute to that behavior. How frequently do we see this behavior from adults in the way they treat others, do we see it in our news, and see it in our politics? It happens because we allow it to. Until we look in the mirror and decide to make changes, this is just going to self-perpetuate
Every one of these kids should be made to do public service at an elderly care facility for a year. What a pathetic group of spoiled brats.
How can the School Board still be investigating after seeing that video? The evidence is readily apparent. It is all about politics, I guess?!?
Sorry but an apology through the police department is not an apology. Were this one of my kids, we would go directly to the woman that was wronged.
That being said, I think we need to dial down the hate on these kids a bit. They are getting threats, and sooner or later someone may carry one out. They are kids after all and kids make sometime horrible mistakes. The kids deserve serious punishment for that however, that needs to come from the school and the parents NOT some vigilante. Its got press, it has the attention of the authorities, the news needs to dial down the coverage before someone gets hurt.
Ah yes... the result of a society that places children on a pedestal, says they can do no wrong, and bends to their demands by giving them everything and holding them accountable for nothing. Then it's "shocking" when they get caught being the jerks they have always been allowed to be. Look into a mirror folks. This isn't just those parents alone.
The children who apologized are only doing it because they were caught in the act.
Karen Klein is a far better person now than any of those "boys" will ever be.
This "apology" is a joke, the only reason why they're doing it, is because they were caught. Why not punish the POS for once? Make them do community service for several months? Expel them too.
Yeah, they are sorry, Sorry humans
When parents choose to bring kids into the world they ought to be ready to feed, clothe, house, and civilize their children. If the kids aren't fed, clothed, housed or civilized put the parents in jail.
Why are people so surprised by how these children behaved and how they treated this woman? Does no one listen to how they talk to each other? How their celebrity heros talk to and about each other? The lyrics of the songs they listen to? Monitor their comments on social media? When was the last time a school or parent held them accountable for the way they talk and act? We have gotten so used to the excuse "this is how children behave" that we seem to have forgotten that that is what parents and adults are for - to teach them not to behave this way. This kind of attitude and behavior does not go away by itself just because they get older.
I agree!
I am positive it was an insincere apology from these criminals they were only sorry about one thing, they got caught. How disgusting these brats are they will all end up in jail because this is just the beginning of their life as criminals. They are waste of flesh and don’t deserve to breathe the air with decent people.
It's a shame this happened. These kids need to be diciplined. I would like to think the parents are trying to raise them right. No more than what we know, you can't judge the parents. The school can ban them from riding the bus & I would until they got into high school. They could be given detention for the rest of the year and make it to where they have to clean school grounds, gather up sports players jock straps, etc. If my son had done something like this way back when, he would have gotten the worst whipping of his life (no abuse). And would walk to school everyday. Not to mention I'd ask the school to put him in detention. I just hope these young men turn into responsible grown ups. All I can do is pray. Ms. Klein, I'm so sorry this happened to you. You did not deserve this. And every penny people has donated to you, you deserve it all! God Bless You for keeping your wits about you when this happened. I pray this never happens to you or anyone else again.