There are surely plenty of Good Samaritans out there we never have the pleasure of hearing about, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting to know that one do-gooder is now the recipient of simple human kindness and generosity: After a homeless man made headlines this week by turning in a backpack he found with $41,900 worth of cash and travelers checks in it, the online community has rallied to his cause and raised a tidy chunk of money as his reward.

The man was honored this week by the Boston Police Department for his honesty, reports CBS Boston, and he’ll be rewarded in a very real, financial way as well after one of his new fans set up an Internet fundraising site in his name that has raked in thousands since Monday.

“When you hear stories like that it’s something positive compared to the negative stories we’re inundated with on a constant basis,” the man who set up the campaign explains. “It’s hard to not want to help somebody. I want to make a positive impact on his life, not just hand him a $50,000 check.”

While the initial goal was to raise that amount, the campaign has already exceeded that and a new goal of $250,000 has been set to buy the man a home.

As of this morning, the fund is at around $103,000.

“After all the stuff you hear on the news, you wonder about people,”the campaign starter says. “If we can get more people to do this we could completely change the world one person at a time.”

Online Campaign Ups Ante To Buy Homeless Good Samaritan A Home [CBS Boston]

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