Karen Klein, bullied bus monitor, receives over $600k in donations

Karen Klein the bus monitor who was bullied, has finally met the anonymous benefactor who started a website that raised more than $659,000.

Klein, 68, had welcomed Max Sidorov into her Greece, N.Y. home.

Sidorov, who is from Toronto, said he was bullied once, too. After seeing the video, he said, he had to do something. “I know how it feels, nobody should have to go through that, ever,” Sidorov said.

Sidorov set up a website asking for donations to send Klein on a vacation with his original goal set at $5,000. In its first 24 hours, the fundraising campaign raised $125,000.

More than 7,500 signatures have accumulated on a Change.org petition urging President Obama to allow Klein to receive the donations tax-free, even though the money is not taxable.

“I didn’t think anyone expected anything like this,” Sidorov said.

“I need new carpeting, maybe a paint job here and there. Pay off all my bills so that I can retire,” Klein said.

Klein, a grandmother of eight, one with Down syndrome, said she will donate part of the money to support research.

“I almost feel like I don’t deserve it,” Klein said. “They should be sending their donations to other people that have more problems than I do.”

Most of all, Klein said she is grateful to Sidorov for turning something painful into something beautiful. “My wrist band says be a buddy, not a bully,” Klein said.