A meme is a near perfect means of conveying a feeling in a way that mere text cannot. It’s a unifying and universal symbol for any number of emotions that might get lost using only words. While some are certainly mocking, most are generally humorous, some can be helpful, while others can even be uplifting. That’s a lot for a picture of a duck, or a scribble drawing and a few lines of text to handle, but sometimes that’s just how things shake out. Or maybe I’m looking too far into this, and they’re just some silly pictures with words.
What’s often lost in the rapid creation, sharing, and enjoyment of memes is that there are people behind those photos. Some take that ball and run with, using the publicity to further (or even start) their careers. Others shrink into obscurity never to be heard from again.
This is actually a happy story about how an uplifting meme turned into some sorely needed help. Success Kid in reality was just a young boy playing in the sand. The look on his face and his clenched fist just had that look that says “Nailed it!” and Success Kid was born. The Internet has gotten its share of enjoyment out of this meme, and I’m happy to say that the Internet has also answered the call when Success Kid’s dad needed help.
Sammy Griner’s dad Justin has been fighting kidney disease since 2006. experiencing full kidney failure in 2009. Twelve hours per week on kidney dialysis keeps him alive, but a kidney transplant is the only real permanent solution. Justin’s wife Laney set up a GoFundMe page, attempting to raise $75,000 to cover the aspects of the operation not covered by Medicare. Laney made no mention of her son or the meme he’s best known for, only including a family photo and Justin’s story.
It didn’t take long for the Internet to realize the connection though, and in only seven days the project has raised over $85,000, cruising past their initial goal. While it wouldn’t be the Internet if there weren’t a few trolling comments, for the most part everybody has been very positive and supportive, with some even saying they would find out if they’re a match for the transplant.
For more information, or to donate yourself, check out the source link below.
[button link=”http://www.gofundme.com/opp5cs” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: GoFundMe[/button][button link=”http://mashable.com/2015/04/14/success-kid-dad-gofundme/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Via: Mashable[/button]Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
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