A Washington, D.C., college student from the University of California-Berkeley who loves making TikTok videos has gone viral after sharing a video of herself buying tea for an unhoused man with prostate cancer, and now she’s raised nearly $400,000 for him.
Sanai Graden, who uses the TikTok handle @hustlanani, was on her way to the grocery store in D.C. when she was stopped by “a kind man” named Alonzo who asked her for a hot tea.
Graden invited him to walk with her to the store, and during their walk, she learned Alonzo had been diagnosed with prostate cancer one week earlier.
She offered to buy him food, but he declined. But when Graden asked if he needed anything, he said he needed his pain medication refilled.
Graden shared the encounter on TikTok with the caption, “Please help me help him,” and the video has been viewed more than 27.9 million times.
“A hot tea? From where?” asked Graden on the video before she said. “I’m walking to Trader Joe’s. Want to walk with me?”
The college student says she ended up spending the next five hours helping Alonzo. She said he had insurance but it wouldn’t kick in for about 45 days. Therefore, she used her own money to get his pain medication refilled at CVS, despite having to go to a second location because the first did not have what he needed.
She also bought him a green tea at Starbucks, checked him into a hotel room, and exchanged contact information with Alonzo. But the biggest blessing might have been setting up a GoFundMe page, which has so far raised more than $384,600.
Graden’s generosity didn’t stop there. She also plans to help Alonzo find a permanent place of residence and help him buy clothes and shoes. In addition, she bought him a phone with the funds and will assist him with setting up a bank account and making his doctor’s appointments.
“I’m planning to use the funds to make sure he has a place to live, new clothes, shoes, a…
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