Homeless veteran who got $390K was a trusted member of charity

PHILADELPHIA — A woman whose charity once helped the homeless Marine veteran who has earned nearly $400,000 in donations after helping a stranded traveler said she is happy to see her friend get back on his feet.

Now Johnny Bobbitt may be returning the favor after he identified the charity as one of the organizations he'd like to donate some of his money to.

Thanks to his kindness in giving a Burlington County woman his last $20 to buy her gas when she ran out on Route 95 in Philadelphia, the woman, Kate McClure, set up a GoFundMe page to help him get a leg up. His story went viral and in 18 days the campaign raised $390,000.

Bobbitt has said he would like to donate some of the charities that helped him in the past. McClure said on Twitter that the Sunday LOVE Project is a group he wants to support.

The group feeds the homeless and said on their website their mission is to provide "quality food for quality people who are going through a rough patch."

Founder Margaux Murphy told New Jersey 101.5 that she has not yet spoken to Bobbitt.

"He always told me he would love to start something similar to The Sunday LOVE Project when he got back on his feet," she said.

Murphy described Bobbitt as "super nice" and a kind person. "I haven't met anyone who hasn't liked him."

Bobbitt met Murphy when he was panhandling near the charity's office in a shopping center in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia.

After getting to know Bobbitt, she came to trust him and let him work the door at some of their events.

"I trusted him," Murphy said, adding that she invited him to her house for a shower and a meal, although he didn't take her up on the offer.

Murphy said that when the weather got cold last fall, Bobbitt told her he was living in a dumpster. "He told me, 'Margaux, it's not that bad because it's recycling, it's not trash.'"

Her one disappointment was that when she gave him money for a bus ticket back to North Carolina to visit his family, he never bought a ticket.

"I just wanted him to get out of Philly."

The story she is hearing about Bobbitt is the same as she heard from him directly, but she was concerned about how he is dealing with all the media attention.

"He's a very private person so it's probably a little stressful. His parents didn't know he was homeless but they know now," Murphy said.

Bobbitt will soon be getting a new home and his dream truck, a 1999 Ford Ranger. McClure said a trust will be set up for him to draw an income. A second trust will be invested by a financial planner to allow Bobbitt to achieve a second goal of living in a country cabin.

“This is a well-thought-out plan that Johnny, his lawyer and financial advisor came up with in order to give Johnny the means to acclimate back into a ‘normal’ life and also to protect him and ensure he has a bright future,” McClure wrote.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.

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