A homeless man who received national media attention when he found $2,400 on the street in Langford, B.C. and turned it in to RCMP is making headlines again.
The man, who wants to remain anonymous, found the money on the street and turned it in. After hours of searching for him, Cst. Alex Bérubé found the man on June 22 and told him about the thousands of dollars raised for him by strangers.
“After hearing this story and seeing how this case touched so many people, I took a personal interest in finding this man, looking for him everywhere while on and off shift. It’s not easy tracking down a person of no fixed address and no phone, but I kept trying because I needed to tell him about how the community had rallied together to help him,” said Bérubé, of the West Shore RCMP, in a release. “I finally caught up to him on Monday and told him about the fundraising organized by Mike Kelly of Victoria Buzz, and that he had thousands of dollars waiting for him. His response surprised me yet again, when instead of asking how to collect it, he asked me how to donate it to Our Place and other food service providers for people in need.”
Realizing this news might be overwhelming for this man, officers asked him to come back the next day and when the did, the man stuck to his original request.
Kelly has been told of the man’s decision, which he provided in writing to officers. Kelly is also helping the man find a job and making sure the donated funds go to the correct recipient.
“When I first heard about this man and what he had done, I started thinking of how we could help him”, said Kelly in a release. “Here is a man who is facing many challenges, yet despite that, he chose to do the right thing and see that another person wasn’t left short thousands of dollars and facing the challenges that would bring them. Now I’m going to do everything I can to help find him a job that fits his personal situation, and will hopefully move him closer to overcoming his current challenges.”
To cap off this story, the rightful owner of the original $2,400 found on the street has been identified and has collected his money.
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