"Billy Ray Harris, Homeless Man Who Returned Diamond Ring, Gets a New Home!"
-The Huffington Post
Six months ago, a fifty-five year old man named Billy Ray Harris was homeless. He lived on a street corner in Kansas City, watching his life go past him, asking for spare change. Little did he know, that his life was going to take a drastic turn. One day in February, Sarah Darling was passing by Billy Ray, sitting in his usual spot and she decided to drop some change into his cup. The woman, not noticing that she had dropped her diamond engagement ring inside the cup, continued walking along her path. The idea of selling the ring for the appraised amount of $4,000 did cross Harris' mind. However he could not go through with it. Harris said in an interview with KCTV, "I am not trying to say that I am no saint, but I am no devil either." He decided to wait for Darling to return, to hand it back to her. Three days later, Darling came back to Harris, and asked if he had the ring. Harris took the ring out, and placed it on the woman's finger.
Darling was incredibly grateful for the man's honesty and kindness, and she acted upon her emotions. Sarah Darling and her fiance Bill Krejci decided to launch a fundraiser for Billy Ray Harris. The goal that they hoped to reach was $1,000. As word got around, the couple were overwhelmed by the amount of money they were receiving. After only three months, they had collected $190,000 for this man. Harris now owns a car, put a down payment on a new home, and reconnected with his family which he had not seen in sixteen years. Harris told Today, "When I think of the past, I think-- thank God it's over, I feel human now." On September 2, 2013, Eleanor Goldberg wrote this article to prove that the good in humanity still exists in this world we live in.
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