The rise of crowd-funding platforms like GoFundMe has given people the opportunity to raise money for those in need or help fund worthy causes they believe in.
Of course, there are also people that see these crowd-funding sites as an easy way to get money for any ridiculous request that might pop into their head.
These requests usually involve something they want but would rather not pay for themselves, like a trip overseas, and often pales in importance to, let’s say, a family that have had all their possessions destroyed in a house fire or someone facing mounting medical bills.
These crowd-funding ploys range from laughable to outright absurd and, for some unknown reason, people actually send REAL MONEY to these guys.
Help to fund a ‘spiritual journey’
A US woman took to GoFundMe to raise money for what, in her mind, was a very worthy, life changing cause: taking a trip around the world to further her spiritual journey. Becca Gronski describes herself as a “spiritual teacher, life coach, reiki and crystal healer” and asks all the people she has helped on their personal spiritual journeys to “give back” by helping fund her holiday.
“I’m raising money to support myself on my travels and spiritual journey around the world,” she explains in her post.
The campaign was set up in February last year and 82 people have donated $1,220 ($AU1,619) to her cause. But it seems that many made a donation just so they could share their thoughts on Becca’s path to enlightenment.
Spend money to prove the Earth is flat
It turns out that the rapper B.o. B is part of that entertaining crew that thinks the Earth is flat. In fact, he is so sure that the government is lying to us about the true shape of our planet that he is challenging people to prove him wrong. How, you may ask? By raising $1 million ($A1.32m) to send multiple satellites into space in order to “show B.o. B the curve”.
These flea-bitten newlyweds want a second honeymoon
Sarah and Sam Davey hoped to raise £300 ($550) for a fresh getaway following their stay at the Trecarn Hotel in Torquay, Devon, UK, after claiming their trip was cut short due to a flea infestation. In their online appeal the couple blasted the hotel, writing: “The room was dirty there were hairs in our bed and my husband has been bit all over his body by fleas and after numerous complaints they have done nothing.
“So we had to leave on Tuesday morning and come home five days early because they ruined our honeymoon.”
Help me purchase Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl’s self-confessed “biggest fan” decided to that if he could get a bit of money together he could hang out with his idol every day. So Frank Pain asked the internet to send him some money so he could purchase Grohl. Yep you read that right. He wanted $35,000 ($AU46,300) so he could buy the dude from Foo Fighters and Nirvana.
“I’m his biggest fan and figured I can round up enough scratch to purchase him so we can hang out and high five and s**t. Heck, I may give him a bro-hug or two as well,” he wrote.
Pay for my kids trip to Disney World
Nikki Smith set up a crowd-funding page, asking for £5,000 ($A8,000) to be able to get her daughters to the theme park, but was slammed online for using the site to raise the money.
She ended up taking the page down but later re-launched it, saying “I never meant to upset anyone”. “I am not a bad person,” she wrote on the new campaign. “I also am not asking people for their hard earned money, people have a choice.”
She upped the goal for the new campaign to £10,000 ($AU18,000) and has raised a hefty £7,328 ($A13,170).
Link: http://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/the-most-ridiculou