Kate McClure from New Jersey was driving on the freeway to Philadelphia when suddenly she had car problems.
She panicked but managed to pull over on the side of the road, where she left her car to find a gas station. But she didn’t get far before a man, seemingly homeless, ran toward her and urged her to get back into her car and lock the doors.
Kate did as he said and a moment later, the man returned with a tank full of gas — and handed it to her. He’d spent his last 20 dollars on the gas for Kate.
The man is Johnny Bobbitt Junior. A 34-year-old ambulance driver who’d been homeless for about a year. He came to Philadelphia a year ago for a job offer that never happened. Eventually he was forced to spend one night on the street — that night became weeks, months and finally, one whole year.
Despite the harsh conditions Johnny was living under, he did not hesitate to come forward when he saw that Kate was in need of help. Using his very last $20, he filled up Kate’s car with gasoline and saved her day. But this is just where the story begins.
Kate decided to really give back to the man who saved her. Together with her boyfriend, she passed by Johnny every day for several weeks, leaving money, but also food, supplies and protein bars.
During these weeks, the couple learned more about Johnny and they learned about how he ended up in the street. They also looked through his pictures on Facebook, which felt like a serious wake up call for them.
“I looked through his pictures and thought ‘it could have been me,'” Kate said in an interview.
After learning about Johnny, the couple felt that they wanted to help him get back his old life back — and they knew they had to do more than just give him food.
So on November 10, they started a GoFundMe page through which the public could contribute to Johnny. The goal was to raise $10,000 in order to cover rent, costs related to relocating and supplies for a few months.
