Call it very good karma: A fundraising page set up to support a homeless man who turned in $2,000 he found on a Langford street has topped that amount and is still rising.
In what West Shore RCMP described as “an incredible display of honesty and selflessness” a man in his 60s, who said he was homeless, turned in the cash.
A Go Fund Me page was set up by Mike Kelly, who runs the social media site Victoria Buzz, to reward the man for his good deed. “I can’t think of a better feeling than handing this man $2,400 — no strings attached — and telling him it’s a gift from the entire community that read this story,” says a message on the site. “A token of our appreciation for his thoughtfulness.”
Kelly said that after seeing the positive attention the story got, he wanted to help.
“If anybody had picked up that money, no matter your financial situation, you would contemplate, what would you do? Most of us would turn the money in,” Kelly said. “For a homeless man who could have used that money for food or clothing or to get by, for him to automatically head to the police station and turn it over says quite a bit about the guy.”
The donations reached $3,375 by Tuesday night. Anything raised beyond the $2,400 will be split in half with one half going to the man and the other half going to Our Place Society.
After he shared the story, Kelly said someone sent him a photo of an envelope that turned up in a Langford parking lot with a message written on it: “Lost $2,400 [in] these parking spots … Taking a chance someone will return … I can’t afford to lose it.”
The message also said there would be a $500 reward. Whether the photo is related to the found money is unclear.
West Shore RCMP are not releasing details about where the money was lost or when, so the rightful owner can provide those details when claiming the cash.
As of Tuesday night, no one had claimed the money, said West Shore RCMP spokesman Const. Alex Berube.
Berube has seen the fundraising page. “I really think it’s great to see the community coming together to help those less fortunate,” he said.
He said he and other Mounties have been on the lookout for the homeless man to tell him about the donations. Staff at the Goldstream Food Bank had heard about the story but did not know the man. The Go Fund Me site can be found at gofundme.com/x2y2ajk.
