showbizTom Helson (45 years old) shows his kind heart. The singer-songwriter started a fundraiser to prevent an acquaintance from falling into poverty again over a funeral bill. The lady in question had previously sunk into poverty due to the high bill for her first husband’s funeral. Now that those debts have been paid off, her new partner is also dead. “I don’t want her to go through the same misery again,” Helsin told VRT NWS.
The singer has been doing volunteer work in the neighborhood in Leuven for years. This is an organization that fights against poverty and social exclusion. “There I met a woman who lost her husband 8 years ago to an illness and as a result fell into poverty,” he explains. “She had to borrow money to pay for the funeral.”
Pay at once
These were tough years for the woman: “She had to live for two years without heating, electricity, and hot water,” Hilsen continues. “I paid the funeral in small portions. That must have been terrible: constant pressure to get money and being reminded of the funeral over and over again.”
Eventually, she got out of debt and met someone new. Unfortunately, her new partner also passed away from the disease. “I don’t want her to go through the same misery again, so I paid for the funeral all at once,” Hilsen says. To cover the costs, the singer-songwriter started a fundraising campaign on social media.
straight to the woman
The funeral bill amounted to 2,700 euros. Meanwhile, the campaign has already raised more than 6,500 euros. “I’m so glad everyone is showing their kind heart, it just keeps flowing.” According to Helsen, all the money still deposited goes directly to the woman. “This way she has something extra to get through the winter months. To be clear, I don’t gain anything from this.”
Helsin is not only interested in knowing him and keeping her out of poverty. “It’s also about people in similar situations,” he explains. “People who are not really well off and suddenly have to pay such a bill. Where should they get that money from? Something really needs to change in our country. That people who are already struggling are being pushed into poverty through a funeral… How can we Avoid that in the future?”
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