Student's charitable tweet goes viral, leaving her with promise to donate $210,000

Nov. 30 (UPI) -- A Washington State student's attempt at a charitable gesture went awry when her viral tweet left her with a promise to donate $200,000.

Danni Messina, 19, a student at Washington State University, said she wanted to do something charitable for Thanksgiving, so she posted on Twitter that she would donate to St. Jude's Children's Hospital -- 50 cents for every retweet and 25 cents for every like.

Messina said she hadn't expected the tweet to go viral, but the tweet quickly amassed $210,000 worth of retweets and likes before she posted that she was cutting off the total.

"I was originally planning on donating personally $1,000," Messina told CBS News.

Messina said the $210,000 total is a bit out of her budget, so she started a GoFundMe to help raise the money she promised to St. Jude's.

"I am still in shock. I think it's so incredible that people are donating because they saw my tweet," she said. "I love the awareness part of it, and it's been awesome talking to St. Jude more."