This man walks 21 miles to work a day and the Internet is pitching in to help
Sometimes this little ol’ world can be a heartwarming place. And this beautiful story about a community coming to the aid of a Detroit man is some kind of wonderful proof.
James Robertson, a Detroit native, had a 1998 Honda Accord that stopped working sometime in 2005. He couldn’t afford a replacement: His job pays $10.55 an hour and with his other expenses too, saving up for a car just never quite happened But Mr. Robertson didn’t let a little transportation hiccup stop him from getting to and from his job. For a whole decade, he’s walked 21 miles a day back and forth to his job as an injection molder at the Schain Mold’s factory. And get this: Even with that hellish commute, he’s never missed a day of work.
The Detroit Free Press profiled Robertson, who leaves six hours early for his 2 p.m. shift every day and supplements his commute with a few buses when he can. He does it five days a week, rain or shine or snow, with the occasional friend picking him up somewhere along his route.
His boss, Todd Wilson, told the Press about how impressed he was with Robertson’s commitment. “I say, if this man can get here, walking all those miles through snow and rain, well, i tell you, I have people in Pontiac, 10 minutes away, and they say they can’t get here — bull!”
After Mr. Robertson’s story hit the web, a Detroit college student named Evan Leedy read it and was deeply moved. His response? Start a GoFundMe page for people to donate in order to get Mr. Robertson some money for transportation.
“I initially set the goal for $5,000 just to get him something, bus fares and taxi rides,” Leedy told ABC News. “An hour later we had $2,000 donated already.”
As of this writing, the page now has $215, 230 donated to help Paterson get a car . . . well hopefully now, way more than a car. And that’s not all: Thanks in part to Leedy’s page, two different car companies have called and offered to donate a car to Robertson.
His story touched a whole Internet full of people incredibly inspired and eager to help the determined worker. We’ll stop here so you can go and grab the tissues, but Mr. Paterson is amazing X 1,000.
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