When a homeless man gave the last $20 in his pocket to a stranger to buy gas, he did so because feared for her safety. What she did next changed his life.
Kate McClure, 27, and her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, 38, were so grateful, they made it their mission to get ex-Marine and firefighter Johnny Bobbit Jr. back on his feet with a fundraising campaign that has raised more than $300,000.
McClure said Bobbit came to her aid when she ran out of gas on I-95 at night while driving to meet a pal in Philadelphia. When she walked toward the nearest gas station, he told her to get back in her car and lock the doors.
Bobbit then spent his last $20 to buy her gas so she would get home safe.
“He came back and I was almost in shock,” McClure said.
Bobbit wanted nothing in return but McClure and her boyfriend stopped by his spot several times in recent weeks, repaying him for the gas money and dropping off clothes.
“We went to Target and got him a big backpack filled with stuff, and he opened the granola bars and offered us one,” she said. “We are like, ‘We just got this for you.’ He’s extremely generous.”
McClure was so touched by his selflessness, she started the fundraising campaign for Bobbit with a goal of $10,000 enough to cover “first and last month’s rent at an apartment, a reliable vehicle, and 4 to 6 months worth of expenses.”
They had no idea it would climb over $300,000!
“This is nuts,” McClure said of the money they’ve raised through GoFundMe. “It has changed my entire outlook about people, my outlook about people has skyrocketed. It’s the best day that I’ve ever had.”
Bobbit is in “shock,” the couple said.
“We spoke to him the other day, and it was around $17,000,” D’Amico said. “He kept saying I don’t want to waste this chance.”
“We went from a room for four to six months, and now we are looking at apartments for the year,” D’Amico said.
To their amazement, the money keeps pouring in for the 34-year-old Bobbit, a Marine Corps vet from North Carolina who also worked as a firefighter and paramedic before he fell on hard times.
“It’s like a $100 dollars a minute in the last half hour,” he said. “We got two separate $2,000 donations. ”
“Some lady offered to pay his rent for a year,” D’Amico added.
Bobbit, who hails from North Carolina, has been homeless for a year and a half, and began living under a bridge after he was robbed in a shelter.
“He came back from his service in the marines, and for some reason, it did not work out with his wife, and it hit him hard,” D’Amico said. “He left North Carolina and started traveling around the United States.”
Bobbit would like to work at Amazon and a recruiter from the tech giant has already reached out, saying she wants to help him get a spot.
“He’s a genuinely good guy so I think he deserves everything that’s coming to him,” McClure said.
We told Johnny about the @gofundme he wants to say thank you to everyone who donated or shared!! #philly #rak pic.twitter.com/jfkwamTRpp
— Kate McClure (@getjohnnyahome) November 16, 2017
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