A Vietnam veteran with terminal cancer has been holding yard sales and selling his possessions in a bid to raise $15,000 for his own funeral.
Willie Davis, 66, hoped to raise enough money to be buried next to his parents in Culpeper, Virginia, after he was diagnosed with skin cancer.
During one of his sales at his home in Brownstown, Davis, originally from Cambria Country, Pennsylvania, was approached by a man who asked whose funeral he was raising money for.
After Davis replied ‘mine’, David Dunkleberger bought a few things and headed back to the car tell his friend, Ed Sheets.
A U.S. Navy veteran with terminal cancer has been holding yard sales and selling his possessions in a bid to raise $15,000 for his own funeral
Willie Davis, 66, hoped to raise enough money to be buried next to his parents in Culpeper, Virginia, after he was diagnosed with skin cancer (pictured left with Dunkleberger)
Sheets told WJAC: ‘It broke your heart, hearing the story, and we just decided we had to do something to try and help him, try to make his life a little bit easier.’
After the yard sale the two men set up a GoFundMe page with the aim of raising $5,000 towards funeral costs to help Davis, who served in the Navy from 1970-76 during the Vietnam War.
‘He’s done a lot serving our country, so we wanted to kind of return the favour to him so that, again, his last days could be a little less hectic, a little more peaceful for him.
During one of his sales at his home in Brownstown, Davis, originally from Cambria Country (pictured), Pennsylvania, was approached by a man who asked whose funeral he was raising money for
Initially Dunkleberger and Sheers set the target for Davis’ funeral at $5,000 but are thought to have exceeded the limit and raised $27,000.
The GoFundMe campaign reached its goal of $15,000 early Thursday, and the person who put the fundraiser over the top posted: ‘I saw that $20 was needed to reach the goal and was honored to be the person to reach the finish line and ensure this Navy Veteran can know that his final expenses will be covered.
‘Thank you for your sacrifices in defending the freedoms we still enjoy, sir. God bless you.’
The two men wrote that any leftover money would go to help another veteran in need after exceeding the limit and setting a new target of $40,000.
Davis is suffering from squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common form of skin cancer, which is an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells arising from the squamous cells in the epidermis, the skin’s outermost layer.
Initially Dunkleberger (pictured) and Sheers set the target for Davis’ funeral at $5,000 but are thought to have exceeded the limit and raised $27,000