Chumlee Update: ‘Pawn Stars’ Favorite Continues Charity Work, Raises Money To Help Feed Families This Holiday Season, Was Not Part of ABC Digital’s Recent Debate Day Gold And Silver Pawn Shop Behind-The-Scenes Tour
Chumlee is definitely serious about the time and effort he puts into his charity work these days. What started out as an occasional appearance has morphed into something on a much larger scale. The Pawn Stars favorite recently tweeted about his continued involvement with the Children’s Heart Foundation. His current goal is to raise $5,000 to provide a scrumptious holiday meal to 100 families who will be chosen by the organization.
At the time of this writing, a GoFundMe campaign (created October 25) has raised $1,060. According to Chumlee’s statement, twice as many children die each year from a congenital heart defect than from all forms of childhood cancer combined. He’s asking everyone with a big heart to help a little heart this holiday season. All funds raised from the campaign go directly to the families.
Please help me raise 5K to provide meals to more than 100 Heart Families with over 250 children. https:/ https://t.co/Y0qFVQZp3N
— Austin Russell (@chumlee_) October 26, 2016
October has been a big fundraising month for Chumlee (aka Austin Russell). He attended a cut-a-thon and fashion show event with Corey Harrison at Pawn Plaza to raise money to combat breast cancer. The Pawn Stars favorite was also present at a dinner and comedy night fundraiser to benefit the Scleroderma Research Foundation.
In other Chumlee-related news, ABC Digital’s Brad Mielke recently interviewed Kimberly from Gold and Silver Pawn Shop as they took viewers on a behind-the-scenes tour. She shared the fact that the shop has been at its current location since 1988. Before that, a much smaller store was located on Fremont Street.
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Before the inception of Pawn Stars, Gold and Silver Pawn Shop had 12 employees and serviced around 50 customers a day. Now, there’s over 50 employees and 3,000 to 5,000 visitors a day — mostly tourists. Because of the huge amount of traffic, there are ropes set up for crowd control and parking attendants to keep things safer and less confusing.
Apparently, there’s a different Elvis that comes in almost every day. The guys show up to check out what’s new in the way of merchandise. Speaking of merchandise of the non-pawn variety, employees sell a ton of it. The store can’t sell Pawn Stars-related items because of licensing restraints. However, as you can probably guess, anything and everything relating to Chumlee flies out the door. You can even get your hands on a “Vote for Chumlee” T-shirt. Just a word of warning, however. If you have your heart set on a Chumlee coin, forget it. Russell recently tweeted that they’re all sold out.
If you watch the Pawn Stars tour video in its entirety, you’ll get a glimpse of Mr. H’s office. It’s complete with all sorts of memorabilia from his navy days. According to Kimberly, the “old man” still signs autographs for about an hour each morning. Unfortunately, he no longer works behind the counter, as the fans just get too wild. The same thing happens when Chumlee shows up to sign autographs, which is usually sometime in the early afternoon.
Pulled up on the homie @chumlee_???? pic.twitter.com/C96Wple0IW
— Zeldon Vazquez (@sayitaintzel) October 26, 2016
The Gold and Silver Pawn Shop takes in so much art and jewelry that the Harrisons employ a full-time art director and two jewelers. Sadly, Kimberly indicated that the majority of engagement and wedding rings that pass through the shop are pawned or sold as a result of failed Las Vegas weddings.
Chumlee didn’t participate in the tour, but neither did any of the other boys. It took place before the store opened on debate day.
What do you think about Chumlee’s charity work? Countless celebrities use their notoriety to raise funds and other donated items for causes they care about. There’s still no official word as to whether or not he’ll be part of Season 13 of Pawn Stars. One thing is certain, however, things are looking up for Chumlee!
[Featured Image by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images]
