Not living on the street this Christmas

One night last October, Kate McClure, 27, pulled off an exit ramp of I-95 near Philadelphia because she was running out of gas. A homeless man approached her parked car. It was former Marine Johnny Bobbitt, 34, who sits on the side of the roadside every day holding a sign. "He told me to get back in the car and lock the doors," McClure remembers. A few minutes later he returned with a red gas can. He had spent his last $20 to buy her gas.

                                                                            Elizabeth Robertson, The Philadelphia Inquirer
She wanted to repay him for his kindness, so McClure and her boyfriend Mark D'Amico, who both live in New Jersey, started a GoFundMe page telling what Bobbitt did for her. They were not sure if anyone would donate, but hoped to raise $10,000 to help Bobbitt get off the street. The story ran in the local paper and, so far, the fund has received over $300,000. McClure says, "The second we told Johnny about this, his first thought was to pay it forward. He is fully aware of the worldwide interest. It will be his decision on what organizations or private parties he decides to help." Meanwhile, Bobbitt has moved from the streets to a comfortable hotel room.