GoFundMe Border Wall: Millions of People Collected by an Amputee Veteran



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The total would meet Trump's request for $ 5 billion for the construction of a wall, with $ 40 million less. On Sunday morning, Brian Kolfage collected about $ 16 million for a wall on the US border with Mexico.

"Even though we have half of it, it's half the wall, we can do it," writes Kolfage in his verified GoFundMe which counted more than 218,000 donors on Friday night.

Kolfage had the idea about a year ago but decided to go ahead on Sunday because of "the inaction of our politicians," he told CNN by email. He is surprised by the amount of money he has been able to collect, he writes.

"I received thousands of e-mails from citizens who had queued to become Americans and who had carried out this process legally and are so grateful for that," he wrote. . "They give and they are on both sides of the aisle, and that's why this movement is growing so fast."

While the goal of the campaign is $ 1 billion, Destiny, Florida, the man who lost both his legs and his In Iraq, the right arm says that 1 billion dollars is the maximum of GoFundMe and he is working to increase it. The most successful efforts of GoFundMe to date have raised more than $ 22 million and counted last year with the Time & # 39; s Up legal defense fund, which provides victim counseling services sexual abuse and harassment.

A Call to Stop the "Illegal"

The Grandson of Immigrants Arrived "Legally" in the United States, he says, Kolfage works with the White House to establish a point of contact for money US Representative Steven Palazzo of Mississippi plans to introduce a bill asking the Treasury Department to issue bonds to finance the wall, although there are other options "on the table", said Kolfage on the GoFundMe page.

"We have not spoken directly to the president, but we would like to do it", he told CNN by email. "After all, it's for his election promise. People are screaming and I hope he's listening. "

The veteran is working with a law firm to create a binding document guaranteeing that all money will go to wall, and if the goal is not achieved, all donations will be reimbursed, he said.

  Brian Kolfage met American airmen on a military base in Germany in 2012. [19659011] Brian Kolfage met American airmen on a military base in Germany in 2012.

Saying Trump kept all his promises Kolfage said it was the duty of every citizen to help Trump defeat the democratic resistance in wall and to "make America safe again".

"Too many Americans have been murdered by illegal and too illegal aliens are taking advantage of American taxpayers without any way to contribute to our society, "explains the husband and father in soliciting donations

Although it is unusual for Americans to spend more than what they pay in taxes for government functions, this is not uncommon. Financial David Rubenstein donated tens of millions of dollars for the restoration of the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington House and the United States Marine Corps War Memorial, as well as $ 9 million to the national zoo for its panda conservation efforts.

Life after horrific mortar wounds

Pretending to be "the most wounded American aviator to survive his wounds," Kolfage declares on his website as As a speaker, he can motivate groups and "inspire them to be better people in their daily lives."
In a CNN portrait in 2012, the Detroit native stated that he had started his career in the # 39, air force within the security forces and had gone to Iraq and Kuwait after 9/11. In September 2004, he had caught the war virus, he said, and volunteered to go to Balad Air Force Base, north of Baghdad.

Rather than abandoning his quest, Kolfage found a young aviator who had been selected for the trip and tried to scare him, telling him that he would be stealing his legs. he was leaving for Iraq. The rookie was released on bail, allowing Kolfage to make the trip, he said.

On September 11, 2004, after a night of customs control work, Kolfage woke up in the afternoon. Shortly after leaving his tent, he heard an explosion that made him unconscious. When he arrived he learned that a mortar had landed a few feet from him, wounding him horribly.

His friends will tell him later that while moving him to a stretcher, they had to hold the parts of his body in place for fear of falling. In the base's trauma center, the doctors who monitor him "seemed less afraid," he told CNN.

Two weeks later, he woke up in pavilion 57 of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Doctors told Kolfage that he was the most seriously injured airman to have survived his injuries, he said.

"If you saw these pictures, you would say," There is no chance this guy will live. "It looked like everything was in a meat grinder," said Kolfage.

Unable to practice surfing, hockey or service in the armed forces, Kolfage finds a new vocation in the architecture program of the University of Arizona. In 2014, he is ranked among the best in his class.

"I would not say I'm happy to have been hurt," he told CNN in 2012, "but that made me the different person I am today." 39; hui ". He described his test as "a great lesson in life: no matter how serious the situation, you can draw something positive from it."

Keith Allen of CNN and Tom Goldstone contributed to the writing of this report.

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