Johnny Bobbitt Jr is a tale of kindness being repaid manifold #AtoZChallenge

Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan
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When Kate McClure's car ran out of gas one night on the outskirts of Philadelphia, the young woman was definitely scared. She was weighing the risks of hiking to the nearest gas station when she noticed a bearded homeless man walking up to her car. Unsure of what to do, she stayed inside her car as he approached. But even she could not have imagined the events that occurred next.

The man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr, asked her if she was okay and when he realized her car had broken down, told her to stay inside and lock the doors. He then hiked three kilometers to the nearest gas station and came back with a filled gas can. The homeless man had used up the only money he had on him - $20 - to buy her fuel. And Kate did not even have money to pay him back that night, which he did not mind, happy to see her drive off safely.

When Kate McClure's car broke down outside town, she was afraid to walk out alone at night. Seeing her predicament, a homeless man Johnny Bobbitt Jr told her to stay inside the car, then walked three kilometers to buy fuel for her with the only $20 he had, unmindful of the fact that Kate had no money to pay him back. Determined to repay him for his kindness, Kate would drop off clothes and food regularly for him in the days to come. She set up a GoFundMe page for this former U.S. Marine Corps veteran and paramedic that would go on to raise an astounding $400,000 in a single month for Johnny with which he could finally buy a house once more.

Kate was determined to repay this kindness though and often dropped by that street corner, dropping off warm clothing, water, food and money. She would then watch as Johnny - a former U.S. Marine Corps war veteran and paramedic who had fallen on bad times - would go and share it all with his homeless friends.

When Kate McClure's car broke down outside town, she was afraid to walk out alone at night. Seeing her predicament, a homeless man Johnny Bobbitt Jr told her to stay inside the car, then walked three kilometers to buy fuel for her with the only $20 he had, unmindful of the fact that Kate had no money to pay him back. Determined to repay him for his kindness, Kate would drop off clothes and food regularly for him in the days to come. She set up a GoFundMe page for this former U.S. Marine Corps veteran and paramedic that would go on to raise an astounding $400,000 in a single month for Johnny with which he could finally buy a house once more.

Watching his constant selflessness with everyone around him, Kate decided she needed to do more. She set up a GoFundMe campaign and let the world know about this man, hoping to raise around $10,000 ( Rs 6.5 lakhs) for him. The world though disagreed with Kate there. Numerically, at least.

In less than a month, $40,000 (Rs 26 lakhs) were donated by strangers who wanted to help the man return back into society. If you were surprised by those numbers, well, you may want to sit down for the next few sentences.

On seeing this huge donation, Johnny begged Kate to end the campaign because he felt other needy people deserved the money being given to him and Kate complied with his wishes. The campaign was shut down for all of 12 minutes though, because Kate's inbox was overflooded with messages from strangers demanding she keep the campaign open because they still wanted to help him.

The campaign was finally shut down after a month. In one month, strangers across the world raised $400,000 (Rs 2.6 crores) for Johnny Bobbitt Jr.

Since then, Kate has assigned a lawyer and a financial advisor who have set up trust funds for the war veteran, providing him a yearly salary as well as a retirement fund. Slowly reintegrating him back into society, the money has helped buy a new home for him as well as get his dream truck - a 1999 Ford Ranger!

And yes, Johnny still donates a part of that yearly salary he is given to various organizations and people who helped him over the years.

When Kate McClure's car broke down outside town, she was afraid to walk out alone at night. Seeing her predicament, a homeless man Johnny Bobbitt Jr told her to stay inside the car, then walked three kilometers to buy fuel for her with the only $20 he had, unmindful of the fact that Kate had no money to pay him back. Determined to repay him for his kindness, Kate would drop off clothes and food regularly for him in the days to come. She set up a GoFundMe page for this former U.S. Marine Corps veteran and paramedic that would go on to raise an astounding $400,000 in a single month for Johnny with which he could finally buy a house once more.


Final thoughts:
  • In this story, it occurred to me that both Kate and Johnny went out of their way to help someone they did not know. It was a circle of kindness in the end with rich rewards for all who were touched by it. 
  • Before you started reading this post, did you know of a single stock in the world that could convert $20 into $400,000 ( 20,000 %) in just one month? Now you do. It is named Kindness. And here is the best part - you already own it. You just need to know to use it.

Author's note:

This is part of my #AtoZChallenge where I will be focusing on Real Life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion.
The list for this year's (2018) Heroes of Kindness can be found here.
Of course, I have been tracking these lovely human beings for years now and have found children as young as six years old and old women in their eighties from across the world who will restore your faith in humanity. You can find the entire list of Real-life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion here.






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33Comments

Let me know what you think.

  1. I am amazed at how and where you source the stories out from Doc. This is such unbelievable stuff and makes one feel humbled by all the goodness out there in the world. God steps up through his angels to help out the ones willing to help themselves out! I wish you wrote more than one story a day becuase yeh dil maange more :-)

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    1. I can barely manage one, including making specialized images for Pinterest and Instagram. :)

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  2. Its kindness at two levels.. Bobbit as well as Kate!!! and both their acts have touched lives. Perfect examples of selflessness

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  3. That's a kind of chain reaction of kindness. I can't imagine what happened to those people who contributed generously from their pockets. I am sure their act of kindness have paid them many folds which need not be in terms of monetary benefits alone. This was really an act of kindness which inturn catalysed an organisation help the war veterans.

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  4. Wow! Honestly, Johnny is unbelievable! I wish he inspires more people to be as humble and giving. Thank you for sharing this Doc. I almost teared up.

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  5. Liked the theme, Doc. One thing is becoming very clear that if you help someone, you’ll be helped, but there is a catch though that helping others to get help in return is not help in real means but an investment. Selfless help is true help. Great series. :)

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  6. Hi Roshan

    How small acts of kindness and compassion can snowball....
    This was so heartwarming

    here from
    Second thoughts First

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  7. This just proves, yet again, that you don't need to have a lot , or even enough,to give.

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  9. OMG!! I cant believe the numbers. I have read the numbers twice!!
    How a small act of kindness from both Kate and Johnny has changed so many lives!! Amazing is the power of compassion and kindness!
    5 Travel Books to Spark Your Wanderlust #AtoZChallenge

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  10. I am thrilled to read this. Hats off to Kate and Johnny. Kindness is the biggest currency, obviously. Thank you so much for sharing this story, Roshan! It made my day!

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  11. I salute both Johnny and Kate. People like them keep our faith in humanity intact. Beautiful post Roshan.

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  12. Wow. Indeed it is a circle of kindness. Kudos to you for bringing out such stories to the world. Coming back tomorrow to read one more heartwarming story.

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  13. What a stunning story. Thank you for sharing! There really is still good in the world! Brains! Are we stuck with what we have?>

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  14. Kindness is one quality that does wonders even to unknown people. It's simply positive people attracting more of the same kind.

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  15. This is a wonderful thing to read Doc and the best part is it’s a real life story. Kindness can go s long way in making life full of positivity and it has a chain effect as we can see

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  16. I remember reading this story in one of your WATWB posts...and I read it again, today Heartwarming stories like these give us positivity and hope and the knowledge that kindness costs nothing, and that helping others is the best thing to do if you are looking to bring some happiness in your own life!

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  17. Another incredible story. I hope there are some atori a from India too :)

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  18. That is a beautiful story! Everytime I read about some teribble incidents my mind thanks many strangers who have helped me in my life.

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    1. True. There have been incidents in my life too now that I think about it.

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  19. How nice! This reminded me of the time when our car broke down when our daughter was just few months old and we were stranded in chilly weather with snow all around. One lady helped us and dropped us back home. This small incidents reassure us that humanity still exists.

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  20. God bless both of them, honestly! Bobbit Jr. is no doubt an awesome selfless guy, but where do you find people who appreciate such selflessness and do something about it!

    Cheers,
    Deepa
    2018: A-Z

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  21. A brilliant example of kindness. Hard to believe and truly inspirational!

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  22. I've never heard of these people, but what an awe-inspiring story. With the media always showing the hate and the negative, it's lovely to read such a positive account.

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  23. Selfless love! How a little act of kindness can go a long way. Absolutely loved this!

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  24. So selfless? It is really hard to believe there are such people in today's world.

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  25. Oh wow what an awesome man Johnny so selfless and such a beautiful. Soul Kate who started this campaign to help integrate johnny back into society.

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  26. A beautiful story.We need to think more like Kate and Johnny

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  27. Its nice to know that there are some great people in this world, who appreciate the help that people do. What Kate did to Johny is simply awesome. Something like should happen more happen and the world will continue to be a great place to live :-)

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  28. Such a great story. It always warms my heart to see people helping others. soemtimes we forget that it really takes very little to do it.

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  29. I enjoyed this from top to bottom how life of a person is changed from one act of kindness and the whole world join in to help her in this good cause.

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