Carson King hands over the 3 million dollar check
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A story the whole country has been following: Carson King, the man who held up a sign asking for beer money, donated over 3 million dollars to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital on Friday afternoon.
Over 35 thousand people donated to Carson's Venmo account, raising a total of over 3 million dollars! The states that contributed the most were Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota. Making a huge difference for the hospital and those in it.
Carson King "inspired a whole nation to think about more than a game or rivalry. He inspired a nation to think about our kids and how we want nothing but the best of them for our future. Thank you, Carson," said Suresh Gunasekaran, CEO of the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital.
King, the man who held up a beer sign traded it in for a check for 3 million dollars.
"I never thought I'd get anything with this sign. To go from the posterboard that was like a $1.19 to 3 million dollars, that's a pretty good feeling!" said Carson King. "This whole thing's been a crazy whirlwind, I really don't have words to describe how I'm feeling. I'm super bad when it comes to processing emotions. I almost lost it when we were doing that thing (hitting transfer money on Venmo) 2 or 3 times so it's cool."
Part of the funds helping to ease some of the financial pressures families may face, "it'll help immensely with medical bills, because as soon as we got her healthy we had to worry about the medical bills we had to pay for and I hope it'll help with other families that aren't as fortunate as we are" shared Marcy Oberberckling. Her daughter was a patient at the hospital after they found out her heart and kidney were failing.
Carson shared he may try to replicate this success in the future, "a lot of people are like, 'hey you should make this an annual thing' I wouldn't say no to it. I don't have any idea what I'm doing but why not!" He's considering starting a foundation as well, "I don't know anything about that, this whole thing has been a fly by the seat of your pants type thing. I'd like to keep helping hospitals around the state and the hospital and the country if it gets that big. But for now, it's getting back to work and making money and getting back to normalcy."
"Thank you, Carson, thank you. And to everyone who's donated. It makes a big difference," said Oberberckling.
The rest of the funds will help child life services which incorporate play and other forms of communication, getting enhancements to neonatal and pediatric transport service, professional development/continuing education for staff, and purchasing new equipment.