A homeless woman who captured the hearts of thousands of people online has been rewarded for her generosity after a TikTok creator’s interaction with her went viral.
In his video, Jimmy Darts he films himself asking Linda, a woman who had been living on the streets for almost a decade, to get food.
In response, the 76-year-old woman offers Jimmy most of her food, insisting that he take it without asking for anything in return.
After Linda, who lives on the streets of Costa Mesa, California, gives him plenty of food, she assures the 28-year-old that he still has something to eat.
“I have $1,000 for you,” Jimmy tells a bewildered Linda. “I was just helping the first person who helped me.”
The Internet has raised more than $44,000 for a homeless woman after her kind gesture toward TikTok creator Jimmy Darts went viral.
Linda, who looks emotional in the video, responds through tears by saying she was going to use the money to spend the night in a motel instead of the tent she had been sleeping in, even in the stormy weather.
Overwhelmed by his generosity and kindness, thousands of TikTok users donated to his cause through a GoFundMe pageinitially with the goal of raising more than $30,000 for her, a goal that was surpassed.
Jimmy met up with Linda to share the news and documented her reaction in a TikTok, which has been viewed more than 7.2 million times.
“I can get a van,” she said excitedly. ‘That’s my next step since I got off the street.
“I need to get a van where I can sleep, work, take care of myself and be mobile.”
“I know which one I’ll take,” he added. “I know which one; I’ve been seeing one.”
In a follow-up video, Jimmy added that $44,000 had ultimately been raised through the GoFundMe page, allowing Linda to move into her own home and buy a truck.
“The only word I can think of, although it’s not broad enough, is ‘I’m honored to be in this group and that you’ve helped,'” she gushed.
Overwhelmed by her generosity and kindness, thousands of TikTok users donated to her cause through a GoFundMe page, which she said she was using to buy a new truck.
On Linda’s GoFundMe page, Jimmy shared more of his story.
“She told me that she has been homeless since 2015 and that she became homeless so that she could help them understand and help them more,” he said.
“Their mission is to help homeless people in a deeper way and help them get the real, sustainable help they need.”
“I love that this is your mission and I want you to have more than enough to help the homeless,” she wrote compassionately.
“Let’s make sure she’s taken care of and then some, and if she ever wants to stay in a hotel or get a little place of her own to come and go.”
‘Linda is my hero,’ she concluded on the GoFundMe page.
According to figures from 2023 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Annual Homeless Assessment Report, California represented 49 percent of all unsheltered people in the country, or about 123,423 people.
This is nearly eight times the number of unsheltered people in Florida, the state with the next highest number.
Additionally, at 75 percent, California had the second-highest rate of homeless people staying in unsheltered locations.