Aubrey Fontenot thought he was doing a good deed when he befriended and mentored the young man who was bullying his 8-year-old son.
Fontenot took the boy under his wing, after he realized the child’s issues stemmed from troubles at home. Soon after the two young men, Tamarion and Fontenot’s son Jordan, became fast friends.
The local story out of Houston, Texas, went viral and brought a much-needed feel-good atmosphere to the dreary news cycle.
Realizing that Tamarion’s family was in dire financial need, Fontenot launched a GoFund Me campaign with the intent to raise $7,000. He learned the family was homeless and wanted to raise funds so that they could find a permanent residence instead of moving from hotel to hotel.
But donations far exceeded his expectations, amounting to $30,000.
Fontenot said he initially asked the family to share the lump sum with other needy families in the area, and claims the Cains family initially agreed. But now both families are at odds over the money, an unfortunate end to what was once an inspiring story about the strength of the human spirit.
“They don’t want to cooperate,” Fontenot said in an interview with KTRK. “They want to do things their way.”
“I’ve done a lot for these people and they know that,” he continued. “They really do. It’s really taken a mental toll on me, because it’s such a push-and-pull type of feeling. And I just hate it.”
He accuses the family of threatening him over the money, which GoFundMe has made inaccessible until a resolution is presented. Lawyers were hired to facilitate the compromise.
But the Cains have a different perspective. At the time of the report, the family is still residing in a hotel.
“If he did it out of the kindness of his heart to help, then he shouldn’t ask for anything,” said Latasha Cains, Tamarion’s mother.
Cains said Fontenot wanted to split the donation and asked the family to sign an agreement, to which they refused.
“A lot of people were kind enough to donate to us, to help us in our predicament,” said Cains. “My main concern is that the funds go directly where people intended them to go.”
GoFundMe has not yet commented on the matter.
Hopefully both families can find a common ground and repair their deeply severed relationship.
