A TikTok influencer raised over $190K to save a cat sanctuary
By Meg Dowell
Social media influencers have a lot more power to do good than it may seem. SB Mowing never specifically set out to rescue animals, but already putting some regular good into the world allowed them to do even more.
The account, which has nearly 10 million TikTok followers and millions more on YouTube, regularly posts lawn care videos. But there's more to the content than just satisfying time lapses of grass mowing and sidewalk power washing. Spencer routinely offers to clean up people's lawns for free who can't do the work themselves.
On the way to a job in South Texas, the influencer stumbled upon the yard of a vacant home and began cleaning it up on behalf of the neighborhood. He reported picking up nearly 300 gallons of trash in addition to mowing and weeding.
In the process of cleaning up the yard, he encountered and rescued an injured cat who he named Esbee. He brought the cat to Edgar and Ivy’s Cat Sanctuary. The shelter was struggling financially, so in addition to giving them the money he had on hand, Spencer also set up a GoFundMe and asked his followers to donate.
He details the full experience further in the full YouTube video below.
SB Mowing's millions of followers managed to raise over $190,000 for the sanctuary, which has since rescued an additional 700 cats thanks to the extra funds.
Spencer is a prime example of someone using their growing social media following to make the world a better place. SB Mowing's content helps the business continue its operations, but Spencer regularly goes out of his way to offer his help where he can. Someone with over 10 million total online followers can influence those followers to do almost anything. Asking them to raise money for a cat sanctuary saved hundreds of cats, and likely prevented many people working at the shelter from losing their jobs as well.
And if you're still worried about Esbee -- don't be! He's making a full recovery and gets to stay at the sanctuary full-time. He likely would not have survived without Spencer's help, and he's just one of many cats saved thanks tot he ongoing generosity of SB Mowing.