News

Homeless Man Found $42K and Did This with It

by Gillian White

Wow, we're all for honesty, but this just takes it a step further.

According to the Boston Herald, a homeless man happened upon a book bag with about $42,000 worth of cash and travelers checks and proceeded to turn it in to police this weekend.

"People will probably tell him he's nuts, but homeless people are the first to help you out. They don't have anything, but they'll give you what they do have," Bob Boisselle, another man who stays at the Long Island Shelter on Boston Harbor, told the Boston Herald.

Officers notified security at the South Bay Mall about the backpack and it was later returned to a customer who'd left it in a Best Buy store.

And that's not the only recent story of a person with so little treating a stranger better than most people treat him. The Washington Post recently wrote a story about a Glen Hilbrand, a man who has been panhandling in Falls Church, VA for the past 18 years. According to The Post, Hilbrand ventured into the street to recover the body of a dog who was hit and killed. He was later able to explain to the dog's owner, Laurie Nakamoto, what had happened to her beloved companion. "Glen's a real hero to me," Nakamoto told the Post. "Think of all the other people who drove by and never stopped."

And finally, in a story out of San Francisco, a homeless man named Ryan Raso came to the aid of a police officer when she was attacked while trying to make an arrest.

The favor isn't being returned.

According to a recent survey by the Task Force for Ending Homelessness violence against homeless people is increasing. Of the 250 homeless people surveyed, about 44 percent of women and 34 percent of men had been victims of violent attacks.

Based on the findings, most of the violence is related to attempts to rob the victims of their few possessions.