Jim Boggess: ‘White History Month’ N.J. Deli Owner Raising Money On GoFundMe After Backlash

Jim Boggess, a New Jersey deli owner, suffered major backlash in March from his ‘White History Month’ sign. Well, he’s now raising money to try to recoup some losses.

If you haven’t followed the story, in an attempt to show a month of appreciation for his ethnicity, Jim Boggess put up a sign on his deli’s door. The sign read, “Celebrate your white heritage in March, White History Month.” Unfortunately for Boggess, it didn’t get the type of publicity he intended.

However, you can read about the backstory here on the Inquisitr.

As for this update, Jim has now taken to GoFundMe for help and support. According to his page, Boggess has titled his fundraiser as “Jimbo’s White History Sign Gone Bad.” And from what Jim says about it all, it did go bad. On the page, the New Jersey deli owner gives a brief explanation for his fundraiser. It states as follows.

“Hi, my name is Jimbo. I have a deli in Flemington N.J. On March 1st, I hung a sign in my deli window saying, ‘Celebrate your white heritage in march, White History Month’. If you haven’t heard of this story and you want to read about it, just google ‘Flemington white history’ or go on YouTube and search ‘White history month’.

Anyway, it went crazy for four days, and then I had to take the sign down for various reasons. It was only supposed to be a white thing, but people read more into it than that. I did get tons of supporting letters from all across the USA, which was very comforting during such a stressful time. Then, the bottom dropped out, and customers were no longer coming into my deli. And now I am forced to close down my Deli and lose my American dream.

I have become heavily in debt and getting shut off notices from everywhere for both business and home. I don’t think I deserve this, just because I wanted to be proud of being white and be able to celebrate my heritage like everyone else does. If you read this, please leave a comment and what state your from so I can see where my support is coming from. Thank you for all the support and I WILL stay strong and hope to find a job.

Thank you,
Jimbo Boggess”

Since Jim began the fundraiser on April 12, 2015, he’s accumulated $1,250 so far. It’s mentioned that the store wasn’t doing too well before Boggess put up the sign, but things just went completely downhill afterwards. On Jim’s GoFundMe account, he updated on April 17 as follows.

“Yes, you guys are right, the store wasn’t doing good before the sign was posted. But it was doing good enough to keep the store open. After the sign was posted I started only ringing up $23 to $40 a day.

“Couldn’t pay march rent or utilities, then April came and I didn’t have the money for April either. I barely rang enough money to purchase things to sell like eggs coffee and rolls. Then I got my eviction letter and shut off notices, so sorry if you don’t understand my situation.”

According to The Root, another establishment turned to the fundraising website, successfully — after suffering a similar backlash for refusing to cater to a same-sex wedding.

Do you think GoFundMe will be as successful for Jim Boggess as it’s been for other patrons? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

[Photo Credits: Facebook]