Strangers raise money for 92-year-old worker struggling to pay bills: ‘Seemed unbelievable’

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) - Things are getting easier now for a 92-year-old Florida woman who has struggled to pay her bills.

It’s all thanks to one stranger who saw her working. She decided to get involved.

“I noticed this lady working in the dressing room. This woman’s got to be in her 80s and she is still working,” April Steele remembered.

The sight of 92-year-old Muriel Connick on her feet working caught Steele by surprise as she shopped at the Pompano Burlington a few weeks ago.

“My heart sank. I thought, ‘Why is a 92-year-old woman working?’ It just seemed unbelievable to me,” Steele said.

Sadly, it’s the reality of Connick’s “golden years.” Her Social Security just doesn’t pay the bills.

“It’s the rent and it’s the car payment and the car insurance and the telephone, electricity and cable,” Connick described.

Steele said she knew she had to do something after meeting Connick.

Originally, Steele posted on a Pompano Beach Facebook group. Then, someone had the idea of a GoFundMe.

The response has been incredible.

A few weeks in, just over $5,000 was raised.

“I was really surprised, and I didn’t know she was going to do all this,” Connick said. “I thought she was just going to give me a card and say, ‘This is to help you.’”

Steele’s goal was also to help find someone who could fix Connick’s floors in her mobile home.

“How could you not want to help?” Steele said.

The hardworking woman is now charging ahead at 92 years young with the help of generous strangers in South Florida.

“I really thank them very much,” Connick added.

Connick may soon get to fix that floor and fully retire. As of Monday afternoon, the GoFundMe has raised more than $55,000.