Campaign to Get James Robertson a Car to End Sunday After More Than $300K Raised; Worker Tells Donors 'You Guys Are the Heroes'
After four days and an inspiring campaign to get a car for a Detroit man who walks 21 miles a day to get to work snowballed into more than $300,000 on Thursday, the campaign's organizer said it will end on Sunday.
Wayne State University student, Evan Leedy, 19, of Macomb Township in Michigan, was moved to launch a gofundme campaign to help 56-year-old worker James Robertson after reading a story in Sunday's Detroit Free Press by Bill Laitner about his arduous commute to work.
The campaign quickly took on a life of its own and as of Thursday evening more than $300,000 was raised for Robertson, and Leedy revealed that a surprise concerning a car for the dedicated worker will be revealed on Friday.
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"After talking with James and Blake, we have decided to end the campaign on Sunday, Feb, 8. This has been an incredible journey for everyone involved and I cannot thank you all enough for your generosity. We have a surprise for James tomorrow (Friday) regarding a car, details to come!" said an update on the campaign's page.
Robertson also took the time to thank everyone who donated money to the campaign and called them the real heroes.
"Everybody calls me the inspiration but to those who've been great enough to donate and everything, this is the most realest moment. … I don't know what to tell you except you guys are the heroes," he said in a report in the Detroit Free Press.
"Of course, there are other people that think differently. For those, your attitudes have got to change because Detroit is really one of the greatest cities … forget Los Angeles, Detroit is the real city of angels," added Robertson, who said he never expected the public to react to his story the way they did.
