Billy Ray, a former homeless man who lived in Kansas City and begged passers-by, dramatically improved his quality of life as a result of one act of kindness.
Sarah Darling, a woman passing by at the time, put some change into a cup held by a 55-year-old man, but she managed to lose her wedding ring along with the money when she tripped and dropped it.
A few days later, Harris made the decision to return the ring to the woman, despite the fact that he considered selling it to generate additional income. The estimate he received for the ring was $4,000.
The man commented on this good deed: «I’m not trying to claim that I’m a saint, but I’m not a devil either.»
Darling and her husband, Bill Kreichey, organized a charity event for Harris with the intention of helping him recover financially, to express their gratitude for his help.
As Darling explained, «Our goal was to raise $1,000, and we organized this evening after hearing from several people whose hearts were touched by this story and expressed their desire to help Billy Ray.»
The fundraising event received huge support and ended up generating over $190,000 in just under three months.
When Harris first received the money, he immediately sought the advice of a lawyer who helped him put the money into a trust. Since then, our hero has been able to buy a car and even make a down payment on a house.
And that’s not all: his family members, who couldn’t find him for 16 years and thought he was dead, were able to track him down after his TV appearance.
They happily reunited, and now Harris is building a relationship with them; this also applies to his connection with nephews and nieces, the existence of which he was completely unaware. He said: “When I think about the past, I’m just grateful that it’s gone. I mean, I finally feel like a human.”
