79-year-old veteran was heartbroken when his mobility scooter broke down — until a woman's one simple act changed his life

A simple act of kindness can turn into a larger cause to give back to the community. So when a community donated money to ensure that a beloved Navy veteran could have a new mobility scooter after his old one broke down, he turned the thing into a bigger mission to help other veterans with the support of his crew. The man, Kenny Jary, cannot walk long distances because of a lung condition and was heartbroken when his mobility scooter broke down in September 2021. His friend, Amanda Kline, posted a video on his TikTok account, where he goes by @patriotickenny and they got a surprising response from the community, per an update, and decided to pay it forward.

Kenny met his neighbors, Amanda and Jenny, in spring 2021 and formed an instant friendship with them. He also got along well with Jenny's dad, Jerry and formed "The Crew" with them. Amanda and Kenny then started the TikTok account in August 2021 to share Kenny's story with the world. Many people on the internet were in love with the veteran's infectious joy and positive attitude. But the man was quite upset when his mobility scooter broke down a month later. He could no longer go out and interact with friends and neighbors — one of his favorite things to do, according to his GoFundMe page.

Amanda shared that on social media and people donated way more than enough to get a new scooter. The Crew was in disbelief because none of them had expected such a huge response. "I had a hard time believing that there are all of them nice people who would do something like that," Kenny shared in an interview with GoFundMe. They had received $5000 in just a few days, double the amount they were aiming for. So Amanda and Kenny decided to start another GoFundMe and use the extra money to get scooters for Kenny's fellow veterans. The GoFundMe was able to collect over $149,000.

"It’s just amazing. We can only do so much by ourselves. When other people start joining the momentum, that’s when things get exciting," Amanda expressed. The Patriotic Kenny Foundation was born out of this mission soon after, per the TikTok video and the group continued to give free mobility scooters to Kenny's fellow veterans with the help of donations "free of red tape." Since then, the foundation has touched the lives of many veterans, who could be seen celebrating and crying as they received their scooters. Each $970 can get a mobility scooter for a veteran, per the GoFundMe.

"I just break down when we give these away. It’s more than an honor. I guess I’ll put it to you this way—it feels like I’m going back into the United States Navy. We’ve got such a beautiful country and we have freedom. It makes me so happy that we’ve got so many good people out there. I want to do this more and more every day now, just to get out and help them and pay it forward," the man told GoFundMe in a 2024 interview. "That's my goal and will be until the day I die: to donate scooters to servicemen and women," Kenny told CBS News.