Bullied Bus Monitor Fund Tops $640,000

The online donation fund set up to raise money for Karen Klein originally set a goal of $5,000 to send the bullied bus monitor on vacation.  Donations so far, though, have far exceeded anyone's expectations.

Karen Klein will be able to travel the world if she likes. Donations to the Indiegogo site set up to send her off on a break have reached more than $644,000 as of this morning.

The fund was created by Max Sidorov, who said his heart broke when he watched the video of Klein being bullied by middle school students from the Rochester suburb of Greece.  He just wanted to help her out, maybe send her on a vacation. Sirdorov told WGRZ that all donations go into an account overseen by Indiegogo, and the site then distributes the money to Klein. Indiegogo will get 4 percent of the money raised because the fundraising effort exceeded its goal.

The video of Klein's bullying, as you probably know, went viral on YouTube last week, gaining worldwide attention and leaving officials from the Greece Central School Distinct, as well as local authorities, to investigate matter.  Klein has said she does not want to pursue criminal charges against the students, and the kids involved have apologized. But since the video went viral, those students have received numerous threats.