A 21-year-old woman’s single act of kindness may have helped an elderly movie theatre employee in the United States to may finally retire at 85.
In 2024, an AARP survey found that about 1 in 4 US adults over age 50 who are not retired say they never expect to retire, as surging inflation fails to match their income levels.
85-year-old Mary Ellen Eron was on track to suffer the same fate until thousands of strangers came together to raise a potential retirement fund worth over $146,000. The heartwarming turn of events was prompted by a viral TikTok, with all credit given to 21-year-old Brooklyn Green.
Viral TikTok helps raise retirement fund for elderly US worker
An unsettling sight caught Brooklyn Green’s eye when she went to watch a movie with her grandparents at the AMC theatre in Maryville, Tennessee, on May 30. She spotted a much-older woman hard at work, pushing a cleaning cart. Troubled by what she had seen, the 21-year-old shared a video of the 85-year-old theatre employee on TikTok and started an online fundraiser to help build a retirement fund for her.
The best part? Mary didn’t even have an idea of what was about to happen. “Let’s secretly help retire this beautiful woman,” Green wrote in the video, which has since surpassed 14 million views and 2 million likes on the social media platform. “No one deserved to work at this age.”
Shocked by the unprecedented traction the video instantly received, Green told Storyful, “I saw her and God led me to take a video of her, and I wasn’t sure why. I drove home and posted it, and it got over $100K in less than 24 hours of posting.”
“I knew nothing about her. I didn’t even know her name when I went to the theatre,” Brooklyn told local US outlet WATE 6 News. “I just decided that she was working so hard, and I aspired to be like her one day. So I just decided, let’s shoot our shot. Let’s try to retire her and thought just a couple friends would donate.”
Although Green didn’t originally reveal the elderly worker’s identity in her posts and only filmed her from behind, her online fundraiser has since named Mary Ellen Eron as its beneficiary, confirming the old woman’s name.
At the time of writing, the online campaign had over 7,500 donations, raising $146,317. Donations for the fundraiser titled “Help an Elderly Theatre Worker Enjoy Retirement” have since been paused.
Young woman delivers ‘retirement cheque’ to elderly worker
While Brooklyn soon returned to her local theatre to deliver the surprise of a lifetime to Mary, she eventually learned the elderly woman wasn’t working that day. According to local media outlet Knox News, a manager at the theatre told Green that Mary had completely ruled out the thought of retirement over fears that “things would probably go downhill for her” once she stopped working.
Earlier this week, Green paid another surprise visit to Mary when she finally delivered the $144,990 cheque (as was raised at the time) to the theatre employee. In yet another video, the 85-year-old woman expressed gratitude to all those who had helped raise the staggering amount.
“Thank you so very much to all the wonderful people that have donated money to the Gofundme,” she said in the video shared by Brooklyn. “I’m overwhelmed and certainly blessed by the lord and you wonderful people. Thank you once more.”
One of Green’s videos shows the old woman receiving the unexpected cheque. Moved by the gesture, Mary is later seen embracing Brooklyn, who not only helped her story reach heights of viral fame on social media but also raised funds.
According to the manager’s admission, Mary has spent 45 years working at movie theatres. He also affirmed that despite still working at this age, she made sure to extend her generosity to others who may be in need, like those experiencing homelessness.
It remains to be seen whether the AMC theatre employee will finally retire.
As far as the numbers go, Mary is far from the only elderly person still working at such an age. Back in 2024, Indira Venkateswaran, AARP’s senior vice president of research, said, “Far too many people lack access to retirement savings options, and this, coupled with higher prices, is making it increasingly hard for people to choose when to retire. Everyday expenses continue to be the top barrier to saving more for retirement, and some older Americans say that they never expect to retire.”
Formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, the interest group’s survey also indicated that the number of people older than 50 who say they don’t expect to retire has steadily increased in recent years. In January 2022, it was 23% and 24% in July of that year.
Similarly, combined 2025 and 2026 data from Gallup’s Economy and Personal Finance poll found 69% of non-retirees saying they are very or moderately worried about not having enough money in retirement, as opposed to 39% of retirees.
The survey further showed that nearly three in five currently employed Americans (58%) plan to keep working part-time when they reach retirement age.