A British college student is braving 24 hours on the street to raise money for a homeless man she says emptied his pockets of his last GBP3 to help her get home.
As of Wednesday, Dominique Harrison-Bentzen’s heartwarming campaign has raised more than 28,000 pounds — the equivalency of $43,613 — after word spread around the world.
It was after a recent night out in Preston that the 22-year-old the University of Central Lancashire student says she found herself stranded and penniless on the street after losing her bank card.
The person who offered to help her was not only a stranger, but a man who could use a lift himself.
He offered her 3 pounds — the equivalency of about $5 — to pay for a taxi to make sure she got home safe, but it was a stunning gesture she said she couldn’t allow herself to accept.
“I didn’t take the money but I was touched by such a kind gesture from a man who faces ignorance every day,” she writes in her online campaign.
After finding a way home that night, Harrison-Bentzen went about trying to find the man she now calls “Preston’s Homeless Hero.”
Along the way she heard of numerous other kind acts committed by him — from offering his scarf to those who were cold to returning wallets, with their contents untouched.
“I was lucky enough to find him again and his name is Robbie, he has been homeless for 7 months through no fault of his own and needs to get back on his feet but cannot get work due to having no address,” she states.
To help turn his life around, on Tuesday she took a seat on a sidewalk with several friends, “to understand the difficulties [the homeless] face each day.”
The result of that demonstration has thus far been astounding.
In addition to being able to afford Robbie a roof over his head, she’s been able to secure enough excess funds to help others at local soup kitchens and food banks.
That choice was Robbie’s, she said.
“As Robbie agrees, there are many, many inspiring individuals within the homeless community. We set out originally to change 1 man’s life, now we can change dozens if not more, surely this is absolutely incredible?” she posted on a Facebook page established for her fight.
