Homeless Man To Get Amazing Fresh Start With Crowdfunding [Video]
A homeless man, moved by the generosity of a California man who gave him $100, was inspired to share his booty with other homeless people in the area. This has, in turn, led to a crowdfunding campaign to help the man get back on his feet and to raise awareness.
Recently, the Inquisitr published an article about video blogger Josh Paler Lin, who gave a homeless man $100, mainly to see what he would do with the cash. Lin followed the man after the donation, and while, at first, the man enters a liquor store and Lin thinks the worst, it turned out the man, Thomas, was buying food for his fellow homeless in the area.
A lot of people tend to look down on the homeless, but there are many reasons why a person loses everything and is forced to live on the streets. In Thomas’ case, he had to quit his job to care for both his sick parents. He then lost both of them within the last couple months; his father to cancer, followed soon after by his mother passing away due to kidney failure.
After both parents were gone and Thomas was unemployed, he lost his parents’ condo and no longer had anywhere to live. However, despite his dire situation, we can see from the video (included below) he still had time to help others in their plight. The homeless man received a welcome donation, and immediately felt inspired to share it with others.
Many people may have the totally wrong idea of what a homeless person is experiencing out on the streets. Wishing to help the homeless man more, Lin took things a step further and started an Indiegogo campaign to continue to both help Thomas but also to raise awareness.
Firstly, Lin wanted to get Thomas a cellphone so that he could keep in touch with him and others. Secondly, he wanted to help Thomas get his parents’ condo back, or at least find him a place he could call home. Thirdly, Lin was inspired to help Thomas get a job and career that he deserves, and to start a brand new life after so much pain.
Lin was also inspired to spread the word and show people how Thomas, in so much need himself, immediately helped others, and to try to change peoples’ ideas on the homeless. Asking everyone to use the hashtag #letshelpthomas to spread awareness, he started the crowdfunding campaign on December 22.
Please share this post and tag your friends! Let’s spread the awareness for Thomas! https://t.co/PDIS1MPUmq #letshelpthomas
— Josh Paler Lin (@JoshPalerLin) December 22, 2014
While the initial goal was $10,000, the campaign has attracted an amazing $97,657 as of this writing from kind contributors moved by the story, achieving a massive 977 percent of the campaign’s goal to help the homeless man.
In keeping with the spirit of the recent holiday season, the crowdfunding campaign for the generous homeless man will run up to January 21, 2015 for anyone wishing to contribute further. In case you missed it before, enjoy the video of the story made by Lin and included below.
[Photo: Screengrab from the video]
