Homeless Vet Still Living Under Bridge, Says He Can't Get GoFundMe Money
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Money can create a lot of problems. It certainly solves some, but its mishandling can lead to relationship problems like family fall-outs and broken friendships.
You may have heard of Johnny Bobbitt, the homeless veteran who last October used his last $20 to help a young woman whose car had run out of gas.
He approached her, told her to lock the doors and stay inside, and he set off with his last $20 and her bought some gas so she could continue on her way. Kate McClure, the 28-year-old whose car broke down, was impressed with the 35-year-old veteran’s kindness and wanted to pay him back.
She first began visiting Bobbitt to bring him food and gift cards. Then, she and her boyfriend Mark D’Amico set up a GoFundMe account with the intention of setting up monitored funds for him.
Bobbitt was grateful and ecstatic to even have a couple hundred dollars, but 14,000 donors later and the amount had grown to a staggering $400,000.
But there was trouble in paradise. Despite the bright future and new start that is possible with a chunk of change, he was a drug addict. He had a habit, and he had to feed it.
D’Amico claims that he once withdrew $25,000 from the account, and Bobbitt blew it in two weeks. Bobbitt admitted that he had spent some of it on drugs, but also claimed to have used some of it to help his family and others.
But he’s apparently not the only one at fault. The homeless man also said D’Amico used some of the money to gamble, which Bobbitt suggests takes up more of his time than his day job.
D’Amico did admit to “borrowing” from the fund once, but insists he paid it back right away, according to the Philadelphia Enquirer.
There are other suspicious signs: The GoFundMe page promised to get Bobbitt into his own home, but the most Bobbitt got was a trailer on some land owned by the family.
The accusations continue to fly thick and fast. Bobbitt questions how McClure was able to take multiple expensive vacations and recently buy herself a new BMW.
The couple claims Bobbitt stole some of their possessions and sold them. Bobbitt says they bought him an old SUV that broke down.
The couple also claims that there’s only $200,000 left in the account after paying the GoFundMe fees and for cars, food, and living costs, but Bobbitt says there’s no way they already gave him that much.
“I think it might have been good intentions in the beginning,” Bobbitt said, “but with that amount of money, I think it became greed.”
D’Amico sees things differently. He’s promised to give Bobbitt the rest of the money as long as he cleans up his act and gets a job.
“Write what you want. Giving him all that money, it’s never going to happen. I’ll burn it in front of him,” D’Amico said during an interview.
Whether the real reason is the money is gone, D’Amico doesn’t want to hand it over, or he truly is concerned for Bobbitt’s welfare remains to be seen.
Since Bobbitt is currently living under a bridge again and is addicted to drugs, D’Amico said that simply giving Bobbitt the money would be the same as “giving him a loaded gun.”
That is a real concern — it would be foolish to hand over the entire sum at once. But the couple has not been forthcoming with information or records about how the money was spent or where it’s gone, either.
It’s unfortunate that something that started out so positive and became an example of human kindness has devolved into such bitter quarreling.
Hopefully, the couple will be honest in their dealings and find an appropriate way to ensure that Bobbitt uses the money to get his life back on track, and not run himself into the ground.
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