Fan who raised beer money with 'College GameDay' sign will donate to children's hospital

Liz Roscher
·Staff writer
Updated
Iowa State fan Carson King got scores of donations when his beer money sign appeared on "College GameDay," and he's donating almost all of it to a children's hospital. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images)
Iowa State fan Carson King got scores of donations when his beer money sign appeared on "College GameDay," and he's donating almost all of it to a children's hospital. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images)

Carson King, a 24-year-old Iowa State fan from Altoona, Iowa, brought a sign to “College GameDay” in Ames last Saturday. Nothing fancy, just black marker on white poster board. It read “Busch Light Supply Needs Replenished, Venmo Carson-King-25”.

It was just a funny sign, something that hundreds of fans bring to “College GameDay” every week. But after the sign appeared on camera, it turned into so much more. Money started unexpectedly rolling into King’s Venmo account, much more than he thought he’d receive.

"I looked down at my phone,” King told WHO-TV. “My friend kept asking 'Hey man, who keeps texting you?' and I looked down and I had about $400 on my Venmo account. I had people from Texas, Idaho, California, Massachusetts, all over. A lot of Clemson people donated. I guess they like Busch Light, too."

The amount kept rising. King had barely put the sign down when the amount reached $1,000, and donations continued to roll in. He told WHO-TV that he called his parents and they hatched a plan: he would keep enough money to pay for a case of beer, but donate the rest to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City.

King’s mother, Dana Archer-King, had no idea that her son’s stunt would result in such a selfless act.

"He had told me about it last Wednesday and, probably like most moms, I just laughed and thought, 'Great, this will be my proudest moment,' " Archer-King told the Des Moines Register. But it turned out that it was.

"He's not a wealthy kid by any means," she said. "I'm not sure how many 24-year-olds would just give that kind of money away. We're all so in awe with what he's doing."

King has raised over $6,000, and plans to keep the fundraiser going until the end of the month when he’ll personally deliver the money to the hospital.

"This was way better than expected," King told the Register. "It just goes to show that no matter if you’re a Hawkeye fan, Cyclone fan, or Grand View Viking, we’re all Iowans, and Iowans take care of each other."

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