For sure it is generational, and cultural, too. I don't know WHO started it, but if I venture a guess, it'd be the people who started fundraising on behalf of their friends or family members who hit a dark spot (taking collections for the colleague whose kid got cancer and now requires them to be off work for medical visits, for example). And then once that became more regular and accepted, people doing it for their own super close relatives (a romantic partner, for example, or a child living at home with them).