No good deed ... Homeless Man given $190,000

[Hum]

Five months ago we reported about a homeless man, Billy Ray Harris who used to be found begging on a Kansas City street corner, he is now living in a house of his own after $190,000 was raised by people who wanted to help get his life back on track.

Back in February, while panhandling, Billy Ray Harris noticed that a woman had accidentally dropped a diamond engagement ring in his cup, as she gave him some change. He thought about selling it, but decided to hold onto it instead in case the woman returned, a decision that would prove to change the course of his life forever.

Three days later, an exasperated Sarah Darling came back and asked if Harris had the ring. He retrieved it from the cup and put it back on her finger.

?It just makes you realize there are good people out there,? Darling told KCTV back in February.

She was so grateful for his honesty and kindness, Sarah and her husband, Bill Krejci, decided to launch a fundraiser for their hero. They hoped to raise about $1,000, but as the word spread of Billy?s kindness, donations starting pouring in. They?ve collected more than $190,000. The fundraiser read:

Billy Ray Harris is a great man who could use some help. Billy Ray Harris returned my wife?s engagement ring after she accidentally put it into his cup. You may have heard the stories. A friend of my wife?s told a local Kansas City news station, KCTV5. They ran a story, and it went viral, eventually being picked up by many national and international news outlets. After I read interest from others in helping out Billy Ray I put this page together to take donations for him. All donations will be given directly to Billy Ray at the end of the 90 day GiveForward Campaign. Due to the generous donations over just a few days, Billy Ray has secured financial and legal counsel for the funds.  International mobile users, you may need to visit the desktop version to donate. Thank you all for your generosity, hugs, and kind words.

?When I think of the past, I think thank God it?s over,? Harris told TODAY. ?I feel human now.? :happy:

source & video

[Praetor]

amazing. :)

[psionicinversion]

nice

[Growled Member]

Good for him. He needs some nice in his life for a while.

[illage3]

I saw this a few months back.  Its amazing really, you'd think that he would have kept the ring and sold it, but he didn't.  He was honest and and gave the ring back, and it paid off for him, and truth be told the money they raised for him was probably 100 times more than what he would have gotten for the ring anyway.

 

It goes to show that some people who have nothing, always end up giving something.

[Wiggz]

Faith in humanity, and ironically, karma = restored!

[Guest]

$190k worth of drugs and booze he can buy

[yakumo]

truth be told the money they raised for him was probably 100 times more than what he would have gotten for the ring anyway.

 

More like 1000x I very much doubt he would have gotten anything remotely near $1,900 for it at a pawnbroker. 

[illage3]

I just hope he does alright. Seems like a nice decent guy.

 

Unfortunately though alot of the homeless people are homeless for a reason, and will repeat the same habits and mistakes they made and had before.

 

reminds me of the old documentary

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversal_of_Fortune_%282005_film%29

 

I hope he uses the money properly and gets on his feet.

Amazing reading that, but lets be honest if you were given all that money wouldn't you spend it all in one go? Even if I was to win the lottery I'd go away for a few years and then get a job again :)

[fizza]

Truly inspiring. I hope he plans to use the money with good intentions, the same way he returned the engagement ring!

[ILikeTobacco]

Am I missing something? The end of the statement "No good deed" is "goes unpunished." Did something bad happen to him that I somehow misread? Seems like he was rewarded for his good deed, not punished.

[+Raze Subscriber²]

You might be overanalyzing this a bit.   In this case he did indeed get rewarded for his good deed, maybe a play on the old saying.

[ILikeTobacco]

You might be overanalyzing this a bit.   In this case he did indeed get rewarded for his good deed, maybe a play on the old saying.

Must be because the title doesn't really fit with the story, or at least, the first part of the title.

[Hum]

In this case he did indeed get rewarded for his good deed, maybe a play on the old saying.

No good deed goes unpunished -- something Growled emphasizes a lot.

 

In this case, that negative view failed. ;)