Johnny Bobbitt Jr., left, Kate McClure and McClure’s boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, pose at a Citgo station in Philadelphia on Nov. 17. (Elizabeth Robertson/Philadelphia Inquirer/AP)
Kate McClure was on her way to Philadelphia when she met Johnny Bobbitt Jr.
He is a homeless man. But at that moment, she was the one in need of help.
The ensuing act of kindness would soon lead to a second chance for a 34-year-old man who has been living on the streets for a year and a half.
McClure ran out of gas while driving on Interstate 95 last month. She stopped at the nearest exit ramp, her heart pounding as she got out of the car to find a gas station, she said.
Then she met Bobbitt, who was sitting on the side of the road near the exit ramp holding a sign.
“He saw me pull over and knew something was wrong,” McClure recalled. “He told me to get back in the car and lock the doors.”
McClure said Bobbitt walked to a gas station and came back with a can filled with gas. He had spent $20 — the only money he had — to buy it.
McClure decided to give back, so she started a GoFundMe campaign about two weeks ago to raise money to help Bobbitt get back on his feet. She had intended to raise $10,000 to pay for an apartment, a vehicle and other expenses for the next four to six months.
In a video McClure posted to YouTube last week, Bobbitt sat in the back seat of a car reading a newspaper article about the GoFundMe campaign to help him get off his feet. Bobbitt appeared to be elated by the article and the donations that McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, told him were flooding in.
They had raised just $769 at the time.
“God, that’s amazing. Damn, y’all did all that. That is awesome,” Bobbitt said.
He appeared to be overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers.
“People talk about Philly … I have honestly met more good people than bad, I really have. Like y’all! I mean that is amazing,” Bobbitt told them.
“Well, you’re a good person — that’s why,” McClure said.
As of Friday morning, McClure has raised more than $300,000 from 10,400 people.
The Washington Post was unable to reach McClure on Thursday, but she talked about her chance meeting with Bobbitt on the GoFundMe page.
“Johnny did not ask me for a dollar, and I couldn’t repay him at that moment because I didn’t have any cash,” she wrote.
She said she has been driving back to Bobbitt’s spot over the past few weeks, giving him a few dollars every time. She also repaid him, gave him a jacket, gloves, a hat and socks.
“One day I stopped to see him and had a few things in a bag to give him, one of which was a box of cereal bars so he could have something that he could carry around and eat,” McClure wrote. “He was very appreciative as usual and the first thing he said was, ‘Do you want one?’ ”
Another day, McClure said she gave Bobbitt two gift cards from the Wawa convenience store and a case of water. In response, Bobbitt, according to McClure, said he couldn’t wait to show “the guys” what she had just brought him, referring to a couple of friends he hangs out with.
“If those 2 statements alone do not give you a glimpse of the good heart this man has, I’m not sure anything will,” McClure said.
McClure and D’Amico told the Philadelphia Inquirer that they have gotten to know Bobbitt over the past weeks.
Bobbitt, who’s from North Carolina, became homeless because of problems with drugs and money, the Inquirer reported. The 34-year-old has been living on the streets for a year and a half.
A friend in North Carolina who had been close to Bobbitt told the Inquirer that Bobbitt was a talented paramedic and smart enough to become a doctor.
Public records show arrests in North Carolina dating back to 2001.