A homeless man spent his last $20 to keep her safe. She’s raised $34,000 to repay him

The Miami Herald ^ | November 22, 2017 | Amanda Hoover

[LostInBayport]

Kate McClure didn

[familyop]

"Currently at $235,000 and counting..."

That could go away very quickly in an expensive area. He should consider finding a house that he can buy without a mortgage.

[Company Man]

Why didn't she have an ATM card or Visa, etc.?

[Huskrrrr]

Nice post, thanks.

[familyop]

During the early ‘90s, I helped an old man to get a replacement for an award that he had lost. It wasn’t the kind of award that one could buy in a store. It took about six months back then, if I remember correctly. It turned out that he had earned a silver star for real, and he received the replacement.

For myself, it hasn’t been important. We who were reserve component soldiers only received a DD214 for the short time that we were in initial training (only 13 weeks in my case), and quite a few employers didn’t like the Guard or male clerks anyway (crippled in the knees at times from training injuries). And yeah, I was once where Johnny’s been among civilians. Field hygiene and going without sleep can be advantageous if not practiced too long.

[Having been trained to do without sleep can stick with a man for a long time, though.]

I work as anyone else does and long ago learned to avoid mentioning prior military service at work. Let the fakes continue telling their war stories and preaching their anti-defense (fake PTSD), pro-drug-legalization sermons. They’re locally popular—some even in management—and cannot be corrected without reprisals from others manipulated by them (re. the long wait from records to expose pretenders). There are many of them out here.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Becoming a certified paramedic and serving in USMC are very difficult and challenging things to do. I wonder what went wrong with his life. I’d guess drugs.

That’s way too much money for one person. I hope she donates most of it to a good charity with very low overhead or maybe to a specific shelter.

How are such donations handled from a legal and tax perspective? Does somebody have to declare it as income and pay tax on it? Does person setting up the account have to become a certified non-profit to receive the money? Or can the person direct the money to an already extant non-profit?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

My son was just charged $15 to buy the container and I think he had to pay $3.50 more for the single gallon of gas it holds! I was SHOCKED to hear that is now standard practice. What slimeballs running gas stations these days. Charge for air, charge for water, make you buy the can at 3X regular store prices. It definitely seems to coincide with all the foreigners buying up all the convenience stores and gas stations around here (California Bay Area).

[familyop]

"I wonder what went wrong with his life. I’d guess drugs. That’s way too much money for one person. I hope she donates most of it to a good charity..."

That's a disgusting comment although typical in gossip. This is not a tea among hens in a homeowners' association.

[familyop]

"Becoming a certified paramedic and serving in USMC are very difficult and challenging things to do."

One of those girls is not like the other. One is easy. The other is difficult.

[AppyPappy]

States regulate what you can use to transport gasoline. The stores has to sell a regulation container

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Why do you consider that a disgusting comment? The man obviously worked incredibly hard to become a paramedic — that’s essentially a college degree — and that is on top of earning his EMT. The country needs paramedics everywhere and there are plenty of job opportunities. Paramedics must pass a national certification exam and that is not easy to do. Why do YOU suppose he wasn’t able to build a career on that after successfully becoming a paramedic? In my experience, the most frequent reason people are homeless is they got involved with drugs and were unable to keep a job. Paramedics are routinely drug tested and if you fail, you are out.

What’s disgusting about suggesting that all that money should not be used to help one lucky individual? Wouldn’t it be a lot wiser to donate it to a charity to use for many people in need?

I feel sorry for you to have to attack me for what are normal questions that should be asked in such cases.

I hope you and your family have a good Thanksgiving. Good luck overcoming your hostility and misplaced anger.

[editor-surveyor]

.
I’m glad that I’m not you!

Do your demons let you sleep?
.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Not many years ago a gas station loaned you the can. Then they started charging a refundable deposit which you got back when you returned the can. Now they force you to BUY the can that you do not want and will probably never use again.

This is not a good trend.

[editor-surveyor]

.
Gifts are not taxable to the recepient.
.

[Crucial]

That’s crazy and really cool.

[familyop]

"I feel sorry for you to have to attack me for what are normal questions that should be asked in such cases."

That's a false allegation about me.

ProtectOurFreedom wrote in comment #.
"I wonder what went wrong with his life. I’d guess drugs. That’s way too much money for one person. I hope she donates most of it to a good charity..."

That's not a question. You don't know him or anything about him. To write a public assumption that a particular person is homeless because of a drug problem with no evidence or credible testimony is wrong. It's dishonest. It's libel, slander.

[YogicCowboy]

Thank you for that.

[familyop]

"I feel sorry for you to have to attack me for what are normal questions that should be asked in such cases."

That's a false allegation about me.

ProtectOurFreedom wrote in comment #45.
"I wonder what went wrong with his life. I’d guess drugs. That’s way too much money for one person. I hope she donates most of it to a good charity..."

That's not a question. You don't know him or anything about him. To write a public assumption that a particular person is homeless because of a drug problem with no evidence or credible testimony is wrong. It's dishonest. It's libel, slander.

[Edited to include the link.]

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I said I “guess” his problem is drugs. As you no doubt know, the homeless often have drug problems and that is the most frequent reason they are homeless. Hardly slander or libel and certainly not dishonest.

[familyop]

"Why do YOU suppose he wasn’t able to build a career on that after successfully becoming a paramedic?"

I don't "suppose." But it's far easier to get a certificate to become a paramedic than to become a Marine. And in fact, getting a certificate to be a paramedic does not require a degree in most places if anywhere at all. Being a civilian student is easier than becoming a Marine or soldier, and many paramedics and doctors have had drug problems.

"In my experience, the most frequent reason people are homeless is they got involved with drugs and were unable to keep a job."

Your experience as stated is no reason to publicly post a "guess" that a particular homeless person is on drugs.

[familyop]

Have fun repeatedly and publicly posting your "guess" that a specific homeless man is on drugs. You wouldn't like it, if people publicly "guessed" the same to you.

"...64,000 drug overdose deaths estimated in 2016,..." (CDC, NIDA).

It's a good and just plan, really. Let it run its course.

Soon enough, a nation will be guessing the same about people in upscale neighborhoods. It's a wonder that it hasn't happened already, with the higher income levels of the families of the infamous mass murderers of recent years.