A college football fan has raised thousands of dollars for charity, after a “joke” sign requesting beer money was broadcast live on ESPN’s College GameDay.
Carson King, a 24-year-old Iowa State graduate, attended Saturday’s Cy-Hawk game with a sign that read: “Busch Light supply needs replenished. Venmo Carson-King-25.” The sign was supposed to be a joke, King told Iowa’s WhoTV, but after it appeared on national TV, the donations started flooding in.
“My friend kept asking ‘Hey man, who keeps texting you?’ And I looked down and I had about $400 on my Venmo account,” King said. “Moments later it reached $600 and then $1,000. I had people from Texas, Idaho, California, Massachusetts, all over. A lot of Clemson people donated. I guess they like Busch Light, too.”
As of Tuesday morning, the donations totaled more than $8,000 — enough to buy roughly 530 24-packs of Busch Light. But King has different plans for the money. The ISU fan is going to keep just enough for one case of beer then donate the rest to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
“Their hospital does great things for the state of Iowa. Both for Iowa State and the University of Iowa,” King said. “Those kids are fighters and they deserve any chance they can get.”
King’s efforts eventually caught the attention of Busch Beer, who promised to match his donation and “throw in some of that Busch Light” he was hoping for.
.@CarsonKing2 this is the best thing we have read all year, we’re inspired.
We’re going to match your donation to University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, and we’ll throw in some of that Busch Light you were looking for. https://t.co/NPPrPp6zJg
— Busch Beer (@BuschBeer) September 17, 2019
King plans to keep his account open until the end of the month, to maximize the total. If you’d like to donate to the cause, his Venmo username is @carson-king-25.
