By Gavin Boyle
Content creator Samuel Weidenhofer raised over $1.9 million after an impromptu discussion with an 88-year-old veteran.
“I honestly didn’t have much backstory on Ed,” Weidenhofer said when explaining how the story came about. “To see what has come out of it and to have him share his story and how authentically it came across, because it was at complete random, out of the blue, and now it’s inspired millions. It’s unbelievable to see the support that’s come through.”
Ed Bambas’ story is heartbreaking as the 88 year old initially retired in 1999 but was forced to return to work when he lost his pension, health insurance and home when General Motors went bankrupt. He has since been working full-time at a grocery store in Detroit, Michigan, and had little hope to retire again. However, thanks to the generosity of tens of thousands of viewers, Bambas now has the money to comfortably live out the rest of his days without needing to work another day in his life.
Related: Digital Evangelist Brings 1 Million People to Christ through Social Media
Weidenhofer is a part of a growing trend of social media content creators whose entire brand revolves around brightening others’ days. The internet’s largest creator MrBeast, for example, grew his brand from the idea of giving back to others. His first viral video saw him giving $10,000 to a homeless man, and he has since performed countless other good deeds.
Meanwhile, positivity is on the rise across all entertainment as Hollywood has begun to focus on producing uplifting stories.
“[Positivity] is clearly an important need, given the power of advertising to shape hearts and minds in America and the amount of negativity that Americans are seeing their their social media and news feeds,” explained Dave Morgan, the president and CEO of marketing company Simulmedia who has noticed an uptick in positive ads. “We are seeing more positive messages on television this year.”
At the same time, explicitly Christian stories are also finding a place in Hollywood, allowing the light of the Bible to reach millions of people every day.
“I think Christianity and values are just making their comeback [in Hollywood],” explained director Jon Erwin. “There’s a lot of executives in the entertainment industry that are just titans…that for a long they they were content…sort of keeping at day some of the more damaging trends in the industry, but I think there’s been a shift in content in the industry where it’s like, enough is enough. I have to align my values with my career.”
It is amazing to see how the Lord is moving across the entertainment industry and seeing many people choose to use the platform He has given them for good, rather than for their own glory.
Read Next: Hollywood’s Movies With Moral, Uplifting and Positive Content Dominate Global Box Office
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