Billy Ray Harris, Homeless Man, Does Good Deed; Gets $190K in Donations

Billy Ray Harris, a homeless man from Missouri, returned a $4,000 diamond engagement ring in February, and the couple launched an online fundraiser for him, generating more than $190,000.
Billy Ray Harris, Homeless Man, Does Good Deed; Gets $190K in Donations
A website was set up for donations for Billy Ray Harris, who returned a diamond engagement ring. (Screenshot/Giveforward.com)
Jack Phillips
9/2/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

Billy Ray Harris, a homeless man from Missouri, returned a $4,000 diamond engagement ring in February, and the couple launched an online fundraiser for him, generating more than $190,000 earlier this year. He spent the money on a new house, according to a recent report.

Harris’s life has turned around in the past several months, purchasing a home and a car, and he made plans to start a house painting company, reported Today.com.

He also reconnected with his family in March. They were looking for him for more than a decade.

“When I think of the past, I think –- thank God it’s over,” Harris told Today.com. “I feel human now.”

The couple, Sarah Darling and Bill Krejci, said they didn’t realize he would get $190,000.

We set a goal for a thousand dollars,” Darling told Today. “We set it up because a lot of people who had been touched by the story expressed interest in helping Billy Ray.”

In the incident, Harris was panhandling in Kansas City, asking people for spare change. But one day, Darling gave him some change and unknown to the two of them, she dropped her ring on accident in his cup.

Later she went back to Harris, asking him if he saw her ring. He then presented to her.

When they set up the website, people donated nearly $200,000 in around three months.

According to Giveforward.com, a story on Harris “went viral, eventually being picked up by many national and international news outlets.”

“After I read interest from others in helping out Billy Ray I put this page together to take donations for him,” it added.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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