Man gives homeless guy a winning lottery ticket

jtrenthacker
It would have been more amazing if he hadn't filmed it and turned it into a youtube promo. I'm happy for the homeless guy. Hopefully he can get his life together and not piss it away.

edit on 7-3-2014 by jtrenthacker because: Words is hard

edit on 7-3-2014 by jtrenthacker because: (no reason given)

It gets to me that there are a lot of "pay it forward" videos, or "helping the needy" videos being publicized these days. Who needs to film it? Just do it. I don't need proof that you did a good deed, and if you (the flim maker) are looking for any external fulfillment, then you're doing the deed for the wrong reason.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that there are people out there doing good, kind and generous deeds. I just don't see the need for advertising it.

EviLCHiMP

Jefferton
That will buy a LOT of booze & crack!

2nd line.

Shame on you, how could you watch that video and have such an immature response? Have some heart man, homeless people suffer enough already.

Exactly. Never mind that the man can go buy some more clothes to brave the elements for example.

Jefferton's reply got a strong response but this is a common stereotype from the town where I was raised - due to the amount of homeless and many of them living this way due to alcohol and substance abuse problems. I've helped homeless people and had it backfire. I loaned out a motor home only to have them try to sue me - saying it was theirs. It was a nightmare - ended up just letting it go. I've also asked them to do work for me and have had issues around that (coming back to take things or feigning injury).

In spite of those bad experiences and all I've seen I still feel deep sympathy for this population. I don't know if it is stupidity or what but I continue to help when I can - in a way I probably shouldn't by trying to teach them to fish rather than just giving a fish. This is the type of person I would give work to - saw it in his eyes (a sincerity). To make feel worthwhile and raise self efficacy - help to instill some skills and hook up with a job. It's almost impossible to know when it will be appreciated - when a person might actually be legitimately grateful and prosper from your efforts but even one person feeling lifted out of that feeling of loneliness makes it worth it.

1st:

I just wanted to ask who is to judge the man on what he spends his money on? If you came into $1000, Would you be ok with someone telling YOU what you should do with it? Who cares if he buys booze and crack with it anyways? That's not the point. It's his freakin money now, so he can do what he wants with it.

2nd:

For those of you who might not be aware, if you open the video in youtube there is a link in the comments where you can go to donate to Eric (the homeless guy). The guy who made the video has set up a fundraiser with the goal of raising $20,000 for Eric to help him get his life back on track. Currently it's over 21k. I will be donating as I feel it's a unique opportunity to show someone the world has passed over that there are people out there that care. It's a unique opportunity to make a huge difference in one persons life (regardless of what he does with the money). I'd link it here but fundraisers are against the T&C's as far as I know.

Even if this guy has addictions (who wouldn't if that is what your life looked like every day), maybe a helping hand is all he needs to start cleaning up? Worthy cause imo.

reply to post by Dynamike


The video is legit. It's popping up all over the news. Whats even better is that people were so impressed with this that they started a donation page for Eric...thats the homeless man's name....and so far they have raised just about 22k for the man.

I just hope he makes the most out of this incredible chance he has been given.


FAITH IN HUMANITY.....RESTORED!!!!

I am so happy for this man. There are so many truly decent people out there who are homeless. I have even met a few of them here on ATS.
Life happens, and sometimes life is cruel despite your best efforts. I wish this man all the best!

kelbtalfenek

jtrenthacker
It would have been more amazing if he hadn't filmed it and turned it into a youtube promo. I'm happy for the homeless guy. Hopefully he can get his life together and not piss it away.

edit on 7-3-2014 by jtrenthacker because: Words is hard

edit on 7-3-2014 by jtrenthacker because: (no reason given)

It gets to me that there are a lot of "pay it forward" videos, or "helping the needy" videos being publicized these days. Who needs to film it? Just do it. I don't need proof that you did a good deed, and if you (the flim maker) are looking for any external fulfillment, then you're doing the deed for the wrong reason.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that there are people out there doing good, kind and generous deeds. I just don't see the need for advertising it.

But it's making people FEEL GOOD, don't you get that? People are watching this and shedding a tear. Some of them even give money themselves. These are people that might otherwise sit around complaining that their iPad is outdated, or freaking out because they got mustard on a good shirt. Please explain to me why you need to be negative about it. What are the pros and cons of posting this to YouTube? Maybe you see some cons that I missed. Would life in general be better if it wasn't filmed? I understand that giving is not about recognition, but it doesn't HAVE TO be a secret. That's almost as ridiculous as bragging. My perception of the world is that there is not enough giving. That makes me sad. How much secret giving have I missed? Maybe the world is 99.9% better than I thought, but I don't want to have a misconception about the general state of philanthropy today. Thanks for listening.

reply to post by zilebeliveunknown


No I'm not jealous. But I give more respect to people who do kind things when no one is looking as opposed to taking a selfie video. Now if he donated all of the proceeds from the youtube payout toward the guy or a charity then I would be impressed.

reply to post by Dynamike


I guess the twenty five thousand dollars he's raised for the guy so far isn't altruistic enough...

Someone did something nice for another human being, and that is a great thing. One can only imagine the struggle that this man has endured. Who could not feel his emotion after watching that ?

Once you get down in today's society, it's more difficult than ever to climb back out of the hole that you end up in. You only pray that it's never you in this Man's shoes.

What I like the most about stories like this one, is that individuals are choosing to help their fellow Man instead of the government doing it while wetting their beaks. ~$heopleNation

reply to post by purplemer


Not only does that cat make some pretty hilarious videos on youtube, I now see he also actually has a heart! No matter if he did have a hidden agenda, he made some guy's day --- hell - week!

God Bless!

And 2 days later, in the glorious words of South Park:
"...and it's gone"

reply to post by Jefferton


pssss i could go threw 1000$ worth of crack in 2 days so no it wont funny guy!

reply to post by purplemer


Ahhhh....

Thanks for sharing that. There are still a few descent humans left out there!

The nerve of someone to do something like this and videotape and upload it! I only want to see greed and materalism on my online videos, anything else is selfish.

reply to post by Jefferton


I can not believe that came out of the mouth of a well educated person of ATS!! You my friend disappoint the crap out of me! People saying crap like what you just said is the reason people are so cautious to help the ones who are indeed in need of help. Some people are born in a #e life like that and some people make it there all by themselves. Some are forced. How dare you assume that that gentleman right there in that video that has no damned penny to his name would spend it on crack or booze when he offered to share it! A crackhead would have been thanks I'm out! I am disappointed to see that somebody on here would act so heinously! That's all I got to say about that and I am sorry you feel the way you do!

If you follow thru to the youtube link, you'll see that the video maker has raised just shy of 20,000 to give Eric

reply to post by lynn112


UPDATE:

The total amount of donations to Eric now stands at just under $40,000.00....with 12 days left to go.

I can't wait to see the video when he gives it to him...now that will be priceless.

I hope he makes the best of it.