Crowdfunding Pays to Get Homeless Man Home to Jamaica

London woman's plea for 'Michael' smashes goal quickly
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 11, 2014 7:06 PM CST
Crowdfunding Pays to Get Homeless Man Home to Jamaica
Jenny Baker and Michael.   (Go Fund Me)

A British woman's plea on Go Fund Me to help a homeless man evidently struck a chord. Jenny Baker asked people to chip in to buy a plane ticket to help a 64-year-old man she met in Dalston achieve his one wish: to return to his native Jamaica, reports the Independent. The post went up on the site Sunday and set a goal of about $1,300. As of this evening, nearly $15,000 has been raised.

"He told me that all he wants more than anything in the world is to go back to Jamaica where he says he will be fine and happy again," she wrote in the original Get Michael Home post. "I have promised this man that this time next year he will be back in Jamaica and that I will make it my personal mission to make it happen." In an update today, Baker writes that all the money raised will go to Michael, reports the Evening Standard. She adds that she's now getting help from agencies and the Jamaican embassy to figure out the next steps. (A key one is tracking down Michael.)

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