The homeless man who returned a diamond engagement ring that had been accidentally dropped into his cup, will soon have over $100,000 to his name because of charitable donations.
Back in early February, Billy Ray Harris, who lives on the streets of Kansas City, MO., realized that the anonymous stranger who had given him change and rushed off had mistakenly dumped her precious ring in with the coins.
That anonymous stranger turned out to be Sarah Darling.
It was the next day before Darling realized she had lost her ring. She later told Kansas City’s KCTV :
“I was so incredibly upset because, more than just the value of the ring, it had sentimental value,” adding that she returned to the same spot the next day to try and find the homeless man.
Remarkably — given his circumstance — Harris had kept the ring safe until he could give it back to the woman who had ‘given’ to him. At the time, Darling and her husband, Bill Krejci, handed Harris everything in their wallets, which was about $60.00.
But after the couple left Harris, they wanted to do more. Krejci, a web designer, created a website — Give Forward — so that people could donate money to help Harris.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , seven days later those donations had snowballed to $15,434. By the following Monday, more than 6,000 people had donated over $145,000 to the site.
Last week, Krejci told New York Daily News :
“The idea was maybe to come up with a couple hundred dollars, something nice for him [Harris]. But now we’re talking about an amount that could really make a difference.”
Krejci added that he hasn’t been able to get hold of Harris to tell him about the campaign. The designer is also working with Give Forward’s communications director Nate St. Pierre, to work out how best to give the money to Harris.
“My feeling is that he’s not going to go out and do something stupid with the money,” Krejci said. “He’s just a really cool guy, and I’m hoping this will give him a better foundation.”
As for Harris, when he was first asked why he didn’t keep the ring, he replied:
“My grandfather was a reverend. He raised me from the time I was 6 months old and thank the good Lord, it’s a blessing, but I do still have some character,” The Associated Press reports .
Give Forward’s donations period will end on May 15.