Woman raises more than $350K for homeless man who helped her
PHILADELPHIA (AP/WTXF) - A New Jersey woman who was helped by a homeless man after she ran out of gas on an interstate in Philadelphia has raised more than $350,000 for the good Samaritan.
Kate McClure, 27, started the Gofundme.com campaign earlier this month after she said she ran out of gas on I-95 and a homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., walked a few blocks and bought her some with his last $20.
McClure said she didn't have any money to repay him at the time but returned to the road several times to give him cash, clothes and food.
After a few visits, she started the fundraiser with the hopes of using the money toward housing and other expenses for the 34-year-old Bobbitt.
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"I wish that I could do more for this selfless man, who went out of his way just to help me that day," she wrote on the fundraising page. "Truly believe that all Johnny needs is one little break. Hopefully with your help I can be the one to give it to him."
Donations have poured in, and the fundraiser has shattered its goal of raising $10,000 for Bobbitt. Over 12,000 people have donated to the cause at time of writing.
Kate has been posting updates to the GoFundMe page including one that looks more into Johnny's past. After finding his Facebook page, she revealed he had been in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked as a firefighter/paramedic.
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Early Thursday morning, Kate revealed that they had put Johnny up in a hotel room for the holiday weekend, sharing a photo of him.
On Thanksgiving Day, Kate posted another update to the fundraiser saying Johnny had asked her to please stop accepting donations.
"Johnny asked me to please stop accepting donations today. He is beyond humbled by the amount of support and love he has received over the last few days! He asked, instead of donating to his campaign, to maybe take a second to search for another worthy cause that, for whatever reason, hasn’t gotten the attention his has," she wrote.