A thriving photographer was recently in the middle of a very weird story involving her camera. Her mom accidentally donated her Canon R6 Mark II to a Goodwill where it was sold for $70. This led to a massive emotional rollercoaster and huge support from the TikTok community. They helped to trace the couple who’d bought the camera, and it all led to even more kindness from Canon themselves.
How the camera ended at Goodwill
Kelsie Lee recently published a video on TikTok and a post on Instagram, explaining what had happened. Her mom accidentally dropped off her brand new camera at the Anthem Goodwill in Arizona along with the other stuff she had donated. It wasn’t only the camera, but the SD card inside of it which was filled with memories from the day Kelsie bought it, as she said through the tears.
@kelsierlee Please tiktok do what you do best
The photographer explained how it was possible to accidentally donate an expensive new camera. She said that she had been using it to take some photos before she went out to dinner with her family. She was hesitant to bring it to the restaurant with her so she wouldn’t damage it. However, she was also afraid that it could be stolen if she’d left it in the car.
She and her dad thought of a “great idea” to hide the camera in a cardboard box in the back of her mom’s car. She went to take the camera from the car two days later and realized that the box with her Canon R6 in it was gone. Her mom had absolutely no idea that the camera had been in the car. “Be nice to my mom,” Kelsie said in a follow-up video where she explained how everything happened. She added that Goodwill processed everything really quickly and that her camera ended up on the shelf in no time. When she went there to look for it, it turned out that she’d missed the buyers for just one hour!
@kelsierlee Ok you guys – this is how my camera ended up at goodwill
The community to the rescue
The Goodwill sold the camera around 4 pm the same day to a couple, and Kelsie hoped that her post would reach them so she could get the camera back. She had offered a $500 reward for the return of the camera and the SD card.
TikTok and Instagram users did what they do best (at least the kind ones on the platforms). They shared Kelsie’s posts in an attempt to help her track down the couple. Her story went viral and even ended up in local news. A family member of the buyers saw it, and shared it with the couple who’d bought her camera only a couple of days after it ended up at Goodwill.
Reuniting with the lost camera
After the buyers found out where the Goodwill camera came from, they immediately reached out to Kelsie. As she’d previously had surgery, they drove to her to bring her the camera back. They’d deleted the photos from the SD card before that, but Kelsie will get it recovered and hopefully get her photos back.
@kelsierlee Replying to @_cheamcreems and that’s a wrap!!!!
The power of social media
If you think this is a happy ending to the story, I’m happy to tell you that there’s more. After she got her camera back, Kelsie asked her followers in another video to help her get Canon to provide the couple with the camera of their dreams. People tagged Canon USA in the comments, and they replied within hours: “We got you!”
@kelsierlee Replying to @Sarah YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kelsie said that Canon had reached out to her and confirmed that they would provide the couple with another camera. Keep using social media for good,” she concludes. “This is the best possible way to use it.” And I can only agree with this. After recently going through some cyberbullying, I’m happy to be reminded that there are still so many awesome people on social media who use it for good causes.
[via PetaPixel]
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