BOSTON (AP) — The overwhelming response to a fund set up for a Boston homeless man who turned in a backpack he found filled with more than $40,000 in cash and traveler's checks is a "statement to everyone in America," says the Virginia man who started the drive. In just over two days, more than $91,000 has been donated to the fund for Glen James.
James flagged down a police officer Saturday after he found the backpack containing $2,400 in cash and almost $40,000 in traveler's checks at the South Bay Mall In Boston. The man who lost it told workers at a nearby mall store and they called police, who later returned the backpack to him.
Boston police honored James with a special citation Monday. After reading media accounts of James' honesty, a stranger, Ethan Whittington of Midlothian, Va., started a fund for James on the crowdfunding site gofundme.com. By early Thursday, $91,855 in donations had been made.
Whittington, a 27-year-old accounts manager for a marketing firm, said he decided to try to raise money for James after reading about his honesty. Now Whittington says he's overwhelmed by the generosity of strangers.
