This past weekend at the Keene State College Pumpkin Festival in New Hampshire, riots broke out all over the town for no real reason at all.
The rioters had likely caused hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage throughout the evening, including the car of an innocent young student named Tyler. A DJ named Mike Tetreault who was playing a private party near the college decided to leave when things got out of control.
On his way back to his car, he saw someone’s vehicle flipped over and laying in the middle of the street.
Tetreault took a picture of the car and sent the photo out on Twitter. Not long after, Tyler, the owner of the car saw the picture and reached out to Tetreault through Twitter and told him that it was his car in the picture.
Tetreault decided to start a crowd-funding campaign to replace Tyler’s car. The following is Tyler’s story in his own words:
“My name is Tyler Bagdonas. Yesterday I was at Pumpkinkfest. I didn’t know what to expect because I hadn’t been up there before. All my friends said Pumpkinfest is a blast and that I should head up there, so I was pumped. I drove up there with my 01 Nissan Maxima and parked in one of the commuter lots near the main road. The partying started early around 1pm, and it was good at first. But everybody started getting really drunk and police were breaking up the parties, and that’s when riots broke out with people throwing bottles randomly hitting people and being completely reckless. I was walking around with my friend during the later part of the night during the riots when I saw my car was flipped over and totaled for no reason. I go to school full time and work 25 hours a week making $9 dollars an hour, and for me, my car was my only good asset. My policy with my insurance company does not cover me for the damages, and I need my car to get to work 35 minutes away and to then commute to school after. If anybody could help me gather funds to purchase a car, It would be extremely appreciated.”
The crowd funding effort received immediate support, but there were some critics who suggested that Tyler either sue or go through his insurance. He responded quickly, saying that:
“I want to thank all of you for your help so far. Its been really reassuring. I have filed a police report about any information regarded people that may have been involved. I also contacted Keene, and Keene State College as to who would be responsible on this matter. The town of Keene says that the college are the ones who will handle the matter, but KSC has not responded to my attempts to figure this out. Aside from that, I really appreciate all of you helping a stranger. Its going to allow me to get back to work and school fast and get back on track.”
After around a day of operation, the GoFundMe page surpassed Tyler’s goal of $3,800.
“I can’t believe all the generosity that people have had to help me reach my goal in 1 day. I cant thank every single one of you enough for the support and the kind words. YOU’RE AMAZING! Without good people like you out there I would be stuck without a job and no way to get to school… Thank you so much to my friends, and everyone who lent a hand to a stranger.. And thank you to Mike Tetreault for setting this whole thing up for me. I’m so grateful for all the help,” Tyler said in a post.
You can visit Tyler’s GoFundMe page HERE.
