A TikTok influencer from Australia has hit back at trolls who criticised her for spending $322.50 (£176.76) on food from McDonald’s which she then gave to the homeless.
17-year-old Sophia Begg, who has more than 350,000 followers on the social media platform, shared a video over the weekend of her purchasing 50 Big Mac burgers which she then delivered to the homeless charity Will2Live.
She also acknowledged that she purchased the food on McHappy Day 2021, a cause in Australia which aims to raise sick children and their families, through the Ronald McDonald House charity.
“If you haven’t already, go support Ronald McDonald House and buy a Big Mac… Shoutout to Will2live who will be giving these to the homeless,” says Begg in one of the captions included in the video.
The clip has already been viewed more than 170,000 times and for the most part, people are being very complimentary towards Begg’s efforts to help those in need.
Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter
However, trolls have found a way to be offended by the good-natured gesture by accusing her of only doing it to attract more followers and attention and whether the food would actually be wanted by the homeless people in the first place.
One person wrote: “Not sure what giving out burgers to the homeless would achieve.”
A second added: “In all honesty, you should have just donated the money directly to Ronald McDonald House.”
Begg has since addressed the backlash in a follow-up video where she called the criticism she has received “ridiculous.”
“I literally can’t deal with people sometimes … The amount of hate I’ve gotten is ridiculous. Everyone is saying that I should’ve just donated directly and it was a waste”, says Begg who added that she was “supporting two charities at once through buying a Big Mac for McHappy Day and giving them to the homeless.”
She also added that she had been donating and raising money for the charity for years and that she shared her goodwill gesture on TikTok to raise more awareness for McHappy Day.
“I thought it would be a waste of my platform not to share something like this that is so close to my heart … I just feel like I’ve been getting so much hate.”
Thankfully, many of her followers managed to see what Begg had done was actually for a good reason and wasn’t just trying to gain an unjust amount of credit and praise.
One of her followers wrote: “People are miserable, you did a wonderful thing and should feel proud.”
Another said: “She literally killed two birds with one stone by donating and giving back to the homeless, what is the issue?”
A third added: “How are people still complaining that you are giving back to the homeless.”
