Mary Halsey, the West Warwick woman who became an internet sensation in 2018 for her karaoke renditions of Missy Elliott, has raised enough money to buy a new Tesla after her old car broke down while she was caring for her partner in hospice. Halsey started a GoFundMe campaign seeking safe, dependable transportation while caring for her partner in hospice.
The campaign, titled Help Mary Get Reliable Transportation, listed a target of $31,000 and showed $30,588 raised from approximately 1,000 donations on October 4, 2026, according to the GoFundMe page. Halsey had been relying on a 2002 Honda Accord with more than 252,000 miles and no working air conditioning. In a Facebook video, she said she needed safe, dependable transportation while caring for Pam during hospice care. Pam is Halsey's partner of 41 years and is currently receiving hospice care, Halsey said. The old Accord had logged 253,000 miles by the time it gave out, as WJAR reported.
A Caregiver's Burden, Made Public
Halsey needed reliable transportation while caring for Pam, and when the Accord failed, it added to an already difficult stretch. WJAR reported that the fundraiser reached enough for a new car. Halsey had asked for help on social media and thanked people for their love, prayers, kindness and support.
WJAR NBC 10 reported on Halsey's fundraiser. Halsey's story also recalls a moment eight years earlier that first made her a household name far beyond West Warwick.
From Goddard Park to National TV
Halsey's viral fame traces back to July 2018, when a video of her singing Missy Elliott's 2002 hit “Work It” during a community gathering at Goddard Memorial State Park in East Greenwich went viral, gaining more than 7 million views within days, according to Newsweek. She performed the song complete with its famously tricky vocal sound effects while holding a polished shofar horn, per that same account. The following month, Missy Elliott herself reposted the video and coined the nickname “Funky White Sister,” praising Halsey for nailing the track's complex vocal effects, as reported by Business Insider.
At the time the video went viral, Halsey worked at a local nursing and rehabilitation center in Rhode Island, Newsweek noted. Her background in elder care would later echo in the personal caregiving she gave her own partner. Halsey appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show in September 2018, where she explained that she first learned “Work It” for a contest back in 2003 and had been performing it for 15 years before Elliott unexpectedly walked out to duet with her live, per CBS News. Halsey recalled that enthusiastic crowd reactions at that 2003 contest made the song her signature karaoke go-to.
A Brief Brush With Hollywood
The exposure briefly carried Halsey into national entertainment media. Following her talk-show appearance, Ellen DeGeneres assigned her to serve as a red-carpet correspondent at the 2018 American Music Awards in Los Angeles alongside producer Andy Zenor, according to footage posted on YouTube, where Halsey interviewed major pop stars.
The Fundraiser's Impact
For Halsey, the fundraiser's total represents community support as she seeks reliable transportation.
For Halsey, the math behind the fundraiser is secondary to what it represents: a community rallying around a caregiver whose viral fame brought joy to millions years ago, and who found herself in need of help of a much more personal kind.
