In one of the more touching stories of a man who paid it forward, Glen James, a homeless man living in Boston, was honored Monday after returning a backpack that contained over $42,000.
When James found the backpack at the South Bay Center in Dorchester on Saturday, he discovered that it held $2,400 in cash and almost $40,000 in traveler's checks, as well as passports and personal statements, reports the Examiner. He never thought of keeping the money for a moment, and took the bag directly to a police officer.
According to the Boston Globe, James claimed that "even if I were desperate for money, I would not have kept even a...penny of the money I found."
Police Commissioner Edward Davis was one of the many to thank James for his act of kindness and honesty. "He's an honest guy and realized the property belonged to someone else."
James has been homeless since 2005, when he lost his job at a courthouse – he had worked there for 13 years.
All the man claims to need is a bit of spare change, not thousands of dollars. He said, "It's just nice to have some money in one's pocket so that as a homeless man I don't feel absolutely broke all the time," reports USA Today.
Citizens are trying to help James out by giving him some extra money to get by on, donating to an online campaign to raise money for the do-gooder.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
