File this one under: unintended consequences of acts on kindness on GoFundMe.
Joyce Jeter — who suffers from an incurable disease called neurofibromatosis — tells WDAF in Kansas City that a $3700 gift collected through a GoFundMe campaign started in her honor has now led to Social Security sending her a nastygram about paying back benefits.
It all started when Joyce, a lifelong Kansas City Royals fan who had sadly never attended a single game, posted on a Royals fanpage to boast about her snazzy bright blue-dyed hair, which she rocked in honor of her favorite team. She was almost immediately ripped on by other fans, she says, and regretted making the post. Damn you Internet, why are you so freaking mean?
But, you know, not everyone on the Internet is an absolutely horrible person. One such not-horrible person fired up a GoFundMe campaign for her to attend a Royals game and it went on to raise a grip of money.
Now, it’s unclear where exactly all that money went, though someone did donate Royals tix to Joyce — she said it was “awesome” to be at the game and likened it to what Heaven must feel like — and the campaign said the goal was to purchase season tickets for her. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about, we’re here to talk about the letter she received recently from Social Security.
Due to her condition, Joyce can’t work, so she relies on about $700 a month from SS disability; they told her she should have reported the GoFundMe campaign, and are now taking $176 from each check because of it.
“Actually, it’s like taking food out of my mouth,” she told WDAF.
Watch the video below, and we warn would-be GoFundMe do-gooders: sometimes even the most selfless act comes with conditions. Think it all the way through before you just up and decide to introduce a few thousand dollars into someone’s life.