Betty White must be protected for the rest of 2016, man says in fundraising effort

A South Carolina man has started a GoFundMe effort to protect 94-year-old actress Betty White from the Grim Reaper for the rest of the year, given the spate of surprising celebrity deaths in 2016.

Demetrios Hrysikos of Spartanburg, S.C., is apparently not the only one worried. The tongue-in-cheek effort had been shared 20,000 times on Facebook and surpassed its $2,000 goal in just 17 hours. More than 200 people had donated $2,126 as of 10 a.m. Wednesday.

White is believed to be in good health, but that’s beside the point.

“If she's okay with it, I will fly to where ever Betty White is and keep her safe till Jan. 1, 2017,” Hrysikos writes on the GoFundMe page. “Now, assuming she doesn’t want a strange Greek standing guard outside her door, all monies will be donated to the Spartanburg Little Theatre to help craft new stars of stage and screen.”

Hrysikos, who is not affiliated with the theater, says the idea came to him after news spread of “Star Wars” actress Carrie Fisher’s death Tuesday at age 60. George Michael, David Bowie and Prince are among the other big names that passed away in 2016.

“Spartanburg Little Theatre helps support and nurture budding talent in our town,” he writes on GoFundMe. “I’d like to think that Betty, Carrie and Bowie would be happy with any proceeds going to that cause...We need new artists to carry the mantel of all the great ones we lost this year.”

This story was originally published December 28, 2016 at 8:45 AM with the headline "Betty White must be protected for the rest of 2016, man says in fundraising effort."