Family refunds $5,000 raised for mail carrier with plans to donate to global charity
Following several weeks of attempted reconnection, Springfield homeowner Caleb Arthur is refunding over $5,000 he raised through a GoFundMe for a generous mail carrier.
About a week and a half ago, Arthur reconnected with mail carrier Brian Coffman via phone call. At the time of this initial call, Arthur told the News-Leader that Coffman said he would consider accepting the funds raised for him after he was caught on video performing a kind act.
Arthur said he received a text message from Coffman last week, however, informing him that Coffman couldn't accept the funds because it is against a United States Postal Service federal regulation, which allows mail carriers to only accept up to $50 from a customer in one calendar year period.
Ultimately, Arthur decided to refund the roughly $5,300 raised. He made the refund request on Saturday and said he started to receive confirmation emails about donor refunds on Monday.
"There were a lot of people ... who wanted the money to go directly to Brian and nobody else," Arthur said. "I felt it would be a little awkward to take people's money they had donated to one person or cause and give it to somebody else."
Along with the refund, Arthur said he is going to donate $2,500 of his own money to Give Well's top charities. Give Well is a nonprofit that curates a list of "in-depth" researched charities. As of Monday, Give Well's top four charities were the Malaria Consortium, Against Malaria Foundation, Helen Keller International and New Incentives.
Arthur said Coffman recommended Give Well as a potential recipient of the GoFundMe money in a text message.
One month ago, Coffman, a fill-in mail carrier for Arthur's route, stopped by the family household. Coffman was there to apologize for "breaking" their mailbox. He presented the family with an envelope containing $500 cash. According to Arthur, the door of the family's 30-year-old cast iron mailbox broke off earlier in the fall.
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The interaction between Coffman and Arthur's wife was recorded on the family's Nest security camera. Arthur posted a clip of the video on TikTok to share Coffman's generous deed. The video shows Coffman ringing the family's doorbell, chatting with Arthur's wife and handing over an envelope. The TikTok video has more than 3 million views.
"You just never know what's going to go viral, so be careful what you post," Arthur said with a laugh. "If it's good it can change somebody's life for the better, but if you're posting crazy stuff, it can get negative attention."
Arthur said he was encouraged by TikTok users commenting on his video to start a GoFundMe for Coffman. A week after Coffman visited the family's home, Arthur started a fundraiser with a $4,000 goal.
After reaching the fundraiser's goal in three days, Arthur had difficulty reconnecting with Coffman. He visited a Springfield post office in hopes of speaking with a postmaster about Coffman and even worked with Billy Long's congressional office, trying to locate the mail carrier. It was through the help of a local real estate agent that Arthur was able to connect with Coffman via phone call.
More:With help of real estate agent, Springfield family reconnects with generous mail carrier
Arthur said he does not regret making the GoFundMe because he believes it helped others realize the importance of giving to fellow individuals.
"I'm thankful for Brian; he showed up at our house, rang our doorbell and had an interaction with us," Arthur said. "It's really helped change my view toward a lot of stuff, even though I felt like I gave back. It just makes me want to double down on my efforts and encourage others to do the same."
Arthur said he plans to post a video update to TikTok soon.
The News-Leader attempted to contact Coffman for a comment but was unsuccessful.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield family refunds $5,000; plans to donate to global charity
