LOS ANGELES — A California man, who goes by the username Josh Paler Lin on YouTube, wanted to see what would happen if he donated $100 in cash to a random homeless man.
At first Paler Lin thought he and his cameraman, Cody, would end up capturing footage of someone taking advantage of that kind of donation, but instead he captured the homeless man, who said his name was Thomas, paying it forward.
The description of the video reads:
“I wasn’t expecting to get this kind of footage… to be honest, I thought this video would be more an exposing homeless people video at first. But I’m so glad that I could witness and capture such a beautiful moment. This has to be one of the most amazing experience so far on this channel. I did not only just help a homeless man, but I actually met an incredible human being and a friend. We were following him for a couple miles for almost an hour or so. Later that day we took him out to eat and got him a hotel to stay. The more I talk to him, the more I sense how genuine he is…. I gave him my number and told him to call me when he needs help. This again proof that not all the homeless people are bad people. Never judge a book by its cover. One love! :)”
The YouTube video, which was uploaded by Paler Lin on Monday, had over 3.5 million views as of Tuesday afternoon.
The video description also includes a link to an Indiegogo page, titled ‘Help Thomas To Get A Fresh Start!’ which encourages donations to help Thomas. The $10,000 goal had already been met Tuesday morning.
