Jason Whittaker-Spring 2024 follow up 

Feel bad for Ray, Timmy and Lorraine. They deserve better.

That dog loves him. The way he sits with "his human" during the entire interview. The friendship is probably all this man has. I wish them buddies both the best. 🌷

That dog is incredibly photogenic, loyal, and obedient. So handsome.

As a mother of an addict, you can't help people that don't want to help themselves. Walk away. 😢

Lorene,Timmy and Ray will miss you the most. Not the money, but the adventures and friendship. We will miss them too...

Buy a ticket for him don't give him the money

I have an open bed in a sober house up here in northern Wisconsin. If he truly wants it, it's his.

MARK, WALK AWAY! I KNOW IT HURTS, WALK AWAY!

Don't give him money, Mark. He hasn't seen his children in twenty years. He's not going to go see them with money that you give him. The drugs that he uses are where he is now. Help him get into rehab. But don't give him money. Your heart is in the right place. But his problems are bigger than your heart right now.

Just makes me feel bad for Loraine, Timmy and Ray. They always seem so happy to see Mark.

Everyone needs unconditional love. I’m glad Jason has his dog.🐕 ❤‍🩹

I love that the dog kept putting her paw on him.

The Whitaker's lied to Mark again, so now he's done with them. They have no one to blame but themselves. Mark was so good to them, and they blew it.

This guy has the highest level of cognitive ability in the entire family.

Jason Finally Said What I Kno We All Have Been Thinkin, Wonderin and Waiting to Confirm, THAT EVERYONE GETS A CHECK In That House‼️

Do not blame or bash the family. None of this happened until Larry came around. They are not doing it intentionally, they are either under threat or completely unaware of how it’s negatively affecting them. They got a new trailer, ray got his knee fixed, they had food, furniture then Larry and bj came and always had their hand out.

It’s not complicated Mark…you’re not family. These people are tight, ride or die tight, you’ll never change that, these are clans that go back 200 years.

I remember your first interview with Jason, you mentioned it to Larry and Larry said Jason is a lier and blah blah blah, and now look at Larry.

I'm saddened to hear that even Kenneth lied. I thought he was better than that. Thank you for being honest, Jason.

Jason dont give up, get clean , you dog loves you and needs you.ive been sober since 95.🙏🏼

I honestly don't think Betty has the cognitive capacity to create lies on her own. She, Ray, Lorraine and Timmy truly ought to be in an assisted care facility. They are too susceptible to dishonest people - their relatives included.

Mark, you were supposed to be done with them on the last 2 videos. Enough is enough. No more. They treat you like hell and you don't deserve this.

Mark is one person who can never give upnon anyone. I love him

come to Wisconsin Jason-I am only 2hrs from Chicago in Wisconsin..You have a friend here...and a faith based sober living program.

I’m from WV and I know lots of people who don’t do drugs and are working. People who want to be clean, healthy and work can. Those who don’t, well they don’t. Interview the successful people. There’s plenty here.

At least he treats the dog well and you can tell the dog isn't scared

The ones suffering the most is Loraine, Ray, and Timmy. They are the innocent ones in all this

West Virginia is a sad situation. The people of that state were used for decades, killing themselves in the coal mines, forced to buy with scrip from the company store, living in shacks that they could never own. Then the Sacklers, so greedy for that Medicaid money, paid all of the doctors to create opiate addicts. Then the gas fracking companies come in and pay people pennies for their mineral rights. Greedy corporations have destroyed that state. The people and the land. My whole family is from West Virginia. Thankfully, my mom and dad split as soon as they graduated high school so my sister and I had a totally different life, but I’ve seen what happened to others.

Aaww the little dog is so good , just sat there so patiently.

It’s Mark’s channel. Would everybody please stop telling him how to run it? He’s an intelligent, grown-ass man! Have some respect.

So the government gives them a check that supposed to be based of the household income yet they’ve taken over $100K from you.

Mark we all know you have been so very incredibly helpful to this family....WAY TO HELPFUL.....I am a recovering addict....one thing u should NEVER do is hand a STRUGGLING ADDICT money!!! Yes...He was honest with u and had admitted he just got out of rehab and is already using again....but, unfortunately I can guarantee if u hand him the cash to leave WV, the money will be going to his next fix... And The money you give him could be what kills him.... So if you want to help him PLEASE DON'T give him cash.... Purchase his ticket for him instead!!

The ones on drugs are running the family. The other family members are living in fear

Poor guy you can see the brokenness in his eyes wish him the best

Mark, nice to see you having a sponsor! Thank you for your content. Safe travels to you and your crew.

You are a saint for trying to help people down and out. You really are. Some people don't know how to treat others and we don't have the type of mental health care to actually help anybody.

The dog is so cute! I hope both of them will have a better future.

Going to miss seeing Danny (Ray) and Timmy, but I get it. It’s refreshing that he was straight up with you about not being clean right now.

This wasn't a follow-up on Jason. This was an opportunity for Mark to grill Jason about any info he could squeeze out of him about the Whitakers.

If you're truly done with them, be done with them. That means not checking in, not contacting them or anyone connected with them, AND not continually complaining about it how you were wronged when you don't. If you're expecting anything out of it, perhaps you're not giving that freely and you have expectations. You don't need to prove to anyone (including yourself) that you're a good person. One thing with trying to help people is that you are never guaranteed and outcome and it's important to remember that going in.

Mark is such a good man. I can't stand that people are taking advantage of him. Drugs are just horrible

Blood is thicker than water, Mark. The Whitakers cover for BJ because this is what family does. You’ve done wonderful things for this family, but you will always be the outsider.

Northern Wisconsin here 👋 ... Good Luck Jason 👍

I spent summers in Beckley as a child and now I watch videos about the drug addiction that plagues Beckley. Terribly 😭 sad.

I hope Ray , Timmy and Loraine are ok. They don’t understand any of this.

I am really getting tired of so many saying there's nothing for anyone in Appalachia but a life of addiction. My father was born in a log cabin just a few minutes down the road from the Whittakers. We were very poor, even for the area, throughout my youth. I was absolutely surrounded by alcohol, illicit drugs, and all manner of familial disfunction. Like many, I did not graduate high school. However, I chose to do more - to become better. After having lived in W.Va., Ky., Oh., and Tx., we now live back in West Virginia, about an hour from where this video was shot. Life is a perpetual string of choices, and our position is the outcome of those choices. Whether a person is poor, wealthy, healthy, or strung out has absolutely nothing to do with their surroundings, unless that person hasn't the intellectual capacity to take care of themselves. The only thing needed to "fix" this state, region, country, and even world is an awakening of individual responsibility.

Mark, I relate to your empathy for humanity. You are a special person and being a caregiver in the home as a nurse, I understand the desire to enrich the lives of others. God bless you Mark ❤

Glad Mark is finally done giving money to this lot. He can put it to much better use.

Stay cautious with all of them - money is not the answer to any one of their problems, including Jason.

I love the black and white still photo of Jason and the dog. Really beautiful

Sad, drugs are everywhere, I'm a recovering crack addict, I'll always will be. But thanks to tough love I'm going to keep moving forward.

The Whitaker family don't deserve any more money. Other people that will be honest need help too.

After working as a social worker in Appalachia I can say the family is paramount. The Whitaker’s are too simple to understand drug addiction and they will bow down to family especially if they are being threatened by that addict. They’re not taking advantage they are stuck

The state needs to step in and help Lorraine, Timmy, and Ray. Even the dogs. The rest I don’t care about. I truly wish Jason the best, I pray he gets far far away from WV and his family.

I've been watching you Mark for years now. I don't care what anyone says. I think you care. You help people and you help us see the struggle a lot of people have to go through. The pain that you've uncovered in these peoples lives is eye opening. I hope you realize there's a lot of us that love what you do.

As a West Virginian who’s never done or been around drugs, this series makes me extremely sad. It’s so unfortunate that such a beautiful state has been plagued by the opioid epidemic.

Please don’t get caught up again in the money scam. You almost have an addiction to helping people so please be careful. You’re a very kind man.

I hope you read this, Mark. I live in the skirt tails of Appalachia and have my entire life. I understand your frustration with the Whitaker's and the drug epidemic that this area is plagued with, probably more than most. I just wanted to say that not everyone here is addicted, there's a whole other side to this story and that's the people here who pick up the pieces and give their lives to gluing the biggest victims, the children, back together. Some of us, even more empathetic to these issues because of the trauma we experienced ourselves as children. In the media, we hear about the criminals, the addicts, and sometimes the victims but we hear very little about those still standing, still fighting, for good.

I think your video with Ruby is my favorite it was uplifting and inspiring

mark love how you help these people.. I hope you keep posting ---but have a trust made for the Whittakers...

Jason is right Mark....wash your hands of them. They don't deserve your kindness and have shown their true colours. The Whittakers never needed all this money and attention...they were living that way because they chose to. If they wanted to they could have done things to improve their living situation but they didn't. This has shown they're not the innocent vulnerable people we all initially thought they were. It's sad as I genuinely grew to care about them too but they're alot more calculated than people realise. One thing though Mark...is giving money to an addict the best thing!? He already said he's not clean, do you honestly think that money is going to go to getting set up elsewhere, or do you think he's going to blow it on getting his next fix!? Please re-think your generosity when it comes to stuff like this.

Always amazes me how ‘beautiful’ you make each person, in your photos, even in their darkest hour. ❤

Mark loves that family!! He wants the best for them! He just cant help to be worried about them it shows what wonderful person he is!! I hope every once in a while he will see them.

You have been so good to them its sad on Ray Betty and Timmy that they wont see you again, i have been watching you from Ireland and the uk you are so kind god bless you

This is a great still shot of Jason, but that pup really is photogenic. I think Mark needs this doggo in all the portraits!

I can see you really have let this family in your heart. It’s eating you up , as much help you have given them, they have no idea how much it is hurting you. I think you need to just let them go for your own sake. We really thank you for all the humanity you have shown us how people should treat each other. Thank you

Godspeed to you Jason on your Journey, i hope many good things comes your way. Blessings to you Mark, Jason since we meet people in life all for reasons for which sometimes we don't understand, agree with. But that being said, we learn somethin from every interaction we have with other's so there's somethin to learn in every situation but it's up to You to see the Positive instead of the negative in everything which can be frustrating, but stay focused as much as you can my Friend's. God Bless us All here on the same planet. 💙

Mark I'm from West Virginia your telling the gods truth nothing here but drugs

Sad thing is Ray,Timmy,and Lorraine are the ones gonna suffer the most from their ridiculous lies!

I love the follow ups on your channel. Good Morning from London UK 😊

Your a kind man Sir. But if you help this man then help ONLY this man. As for the other Whitaker's...don't look back.

Both times you have interviewed Jason he has always seem to be upfront & honest with you about what he knew, & what was going on with him. He looks very skinny from the last time we saw him. I would like to see you put into him the help you gave the Whitaker's. I think he would be the success story that we all thought the Whitaker's were going to be. Would be a great story as well as an example of what could have been for the others. Just a thought.

I am not convinced that the Whitaker family has the capacity to understand finances, including how much $10,000 is really worth. There's no way they have the ability to grasp the enormity of what they could've/should've done with the funds that were earmarked for improving/repairing their house.

Mark, cut your losses, both monetary & emotionally, some people can’t be helped. They have only taken advantage of you. You are a wonderful person. There’s plenty of people out there that need help & will be honest with you.

Mark, please do not give any of the Whitakers' another cent. That dog is adorable though, what a sweet face.

It absolutely breaks my heart what they did too you . I've too been in this situation and it hurt me more than the ones I helped . It gave me trust issues so now I'm more reluctant to help people in need.god bless you keep doing your good deeds not all are bad

Wishing Jason all the best ..

Mark, this is a family of generational welfare and public shunning. They have always had to lie to get by and get through. Im not justifying it but its a way deeper issue that we can understand. The best way to describe it is that they are a clan and are used to being to themselves and protecting each no matter what whether it be lying, covering for each other etc. Reflect on their situation, economic status and then trace the family with those thoughts in mind. Its the Country public housing and slum situation. If you ever get to New England and more specificcly New Hampshire coast, please hit me up to give you places to g and people to possibly interview. There is a northern durg storm that could use your platform and attention.

Mark, you are amazing! Thanks for all the videos. I hate everything that's happened with the Whittakers. However, I wish you would continue to keep us updated about the family. They are super sweet and I feel like they don't necessarily know right from wrong all the time. Please reconsider to keep us updated about them. You can stay connected without giving them money.

What a cool looking little dog.

I hope Jason can get clean. Seek support, and just know you are worth it!

Love These

Mark, when I was at JMU in Harrisonburg, VA in the late 70’s, I was always riding my motorcycle through WV and have passed through the Beckley area many times. It is truly breathtakingly beautiful and serene country. I also volunteered driving a 15 passenger van into extremely remote places to pick up Appalachian kids for weekend Big Brother programs. The things I’ve seen, people can only imagine or witness through your videos. What you have done with these folks is inspiring and you deserve so much respect. Bravo!

Wow I’m so sorry that this family took advantage of you and the supporters. It’s always the more sane ones that they label crazy when they are actually smarter than most, (jason) you did the right thing by walking away from this family.

BJ may be abusive to them and they cannot figure out how to break away……

How are they getting a disability check after receiving all this other income ?

Mark is a great person, but it's time to move on from the Whitakers. You did as much as you could for them. My heart is still with Loraine, Ray, and Lorraine's son.❤❤❤❤❤

Everyone on here wishing Jason the best, even though he has been convicted on 2 separate occasions of sexual assault on a child and is a registered sex offender.

Mark, I have watched most if not all of your videos and while I agree that WV is economically depressed compared to a lot of the country, I would love to see you interview a family that isn’t caught up with drugs. There are plenty of well paying jobs here if you are reliable and can pass a drug test. We aren’t all on drugs and living off public assistance. The opportunities are here if you look for them… a good job doesn’t find you. I like all your videos and I realize you basically have a lane that you stay in. It would be nice to see a typical working family and how happy and intelligent that most of our population is. It’s sad to see that most of the help you have brought to this family has been wasted. You been here enough to know that most people here are friendly and generous. Thanks for trying to help these folks but some people can’t be helped. I think you are genuine in your attempts. Good luck and best wishes.

Hope to see updates

The ones I feel bad for is Timmy and Ray. They love Mark and now because of the families drug and money issues they've lost a friend

He's not going to use that money to visit his kids! He's going to get high as a mofo

Tyler’s video was actually a good awakening to the whole situation . I thought it was a bad thing but after all this has came out maybe it wasn’t

The little dog is so calm and cute

I have never donated money to someone on gofundme before, but I did donate 50 bucks to the whitakers to get a house. I hated seeing them living in that dump. So much for that.

Tbh, I really miss the first time you met them and did everything for them. That was really wholesome moment but it's not anymore.

From a year ago and his 1st interview till now I’m shocked. He looked so good last year and I had such high hopes he would get away from all the BS, now look at him. I hope he gets the help he needs and reconnects with his kids and grandkids.

Dearest Mark, I am so sorry for what you are experiencing and have experienced with this family, I live about 45 minutes from there, my husband and of 47 years came across your channel a few years back and fell in love with them. Our hearts melted with them, especially Ray Lorene Timmy, felt such empathy for Betty and her promise to her parents to care for all her siblings then shouldered that all these years. I’ve fallen for you, your generosity and love you have given to the Whitaker’s, only made us care for you all the more. To see this turn into the mess that it’s become is heartbreaking! 💔 However I’m writing this because I feel this small community or part of Raleigh County, should not over shadow our state It makes us embarrassed, looked down upon. I’m 66 years old, we have been gifted with two wonderful sons, ten grandchildren and two great grandchildren, none of which are on drugs, as they are all doing really well in school and graduating in order of their ages, working responsible adults, only one has become a coal miner. There are other jobs that pay well that doesn’t require a college degree. My feelings and opinions about this family as well as most families or just people in general in any place on drugs seem to be able to smell out money, with the generosity you and others have shown to them. You would be amazed with what has been done or given to the people in this condition, nothing to show for it, never spoken of. 😢😢😢😢😢 We don’t do things to advertise, we’ve always never spoken of the help we’ve given, please don’t take this the wrong way, what you have done especially with your channel is heart warming, I think you are a wonderful guy! Truly appreciate seeing your support for all the people you do. Just heart broken that our beautiful state is looked down upon because of a few places where drugs are keeping them down I feel mental health is the real issues that have been going on here, before the drugs came along this family was suffering. I pray that God will help this family, and help you with your beautiful heart ❤️ I worked and volunteered many years at homeless shelters and homeless in general, taken my sons when on school breaks, summers helping every day at the shelter, neighborhoods , yet making sure I kept our son’s away from drugs… Or see the destruction that comes with it. I guess I could go on and on…. You know the story and see it every day… just please don’t feel that our state is this way every where…

I feel for Ray, Lorraine and Timmy

Mark. Can hear the pain in your heart as you struggle to make sense of the betrayal from the Whittaker's and the loss of Rebecca. I hope you can heal and learn from these life experiences. You simply have to accept that "It's their life journey". You see all the possibilities of what these people's lives could be, according to the world you know. They have no concept, desire or even ability to desire or grasp what you are offering. They are taking their life journey in a way that is familiar and therefore comfortable. Please continue the amazing video interviews that are so unique to your life's work. You continue to capture the only body of work that will be a historical review of how life is really lived in this time in history. I was a Hospice Nurse for 30 years. I had the privilege of working with thousands of people and their families. The best part of my job was listening to each persons life story. Just people - waking up every day, living their life, going to bed at night. Yet, every one of them had done some amazing things that had touched and changed the course of so many others. People that lived in a cardboard box under a freeway overpass in L. A. to one of the richest families in America living in unfathomable wealth. I wish I had been able to record their stories. Best to you Mark. Keep recording these stories. Learn to accept that you cannot change their lives. Your talent is to capture the truth of their journey. Recognize, celebrate and embrace your unique gifts.