A university student is raising money for a homeless man who offered her his last £3 so she could get home safely after a night out.
Dominique Harrison-Bentzen, who had lost her bank card, refused to take the man's only money but was so moved by his gesture that she set up the Help Robbie fund to repay his kindness.
Miss Harrison-Bentzen, 22, has already beaten her target of raising £12,500 for the man, identified only as Robbie. The website proved so popular that it crashed as a result of the internet traffic.
The University of Central Lancashire student realised she had lost her card after a night out on December 4, when the good Samaritan stepped in.
She said: "I suddenly realised that I had no money and a homeless man approached me with his only change of £3.
"He insisted I took it to pay for a taxi to make sure I got home safe."
She refused to take the money in the end but was so touched by the man's kind gesture that she has set herself a mission to help him.
She said: "I ended up posting a status on Facebook to try and find him the next day and it turns out I'm not the only person he has helped."
Robbie appears to have come to the aid of many in Preston city centre, returning wallets to pedestrians and offering his scarf to keep people warm.
And now she will spend 24 hours with Robbie to raise money to help him get back on his feet.
She said: "He has been homeless for seven months through no fault of his own and he can't get work due to having no address.
"It took me four nights of driving round Preston to find him and I was beginning to lose hope that I would see him again, to thank him personally for his kindness.
"Luckily I had my mum and her car to help me.
"And I simply can't just give him the money, I have to go through the right channels so I will be spending 24 hours through the day and night as a homeless person to understand the difficulties they face each day.
"If people can sponsor me £3 - as Robbie attempted to give me his only £3 - in the hope of collecting enough to get Robbie a flat deposit so that he can be safe and warm."
Dominique has been overwhelmed by the response, and even Ian Brown from the Stone Roses has tweeted about the event.
"Everyone has been so supportive and I'd love to get as many people as possible out with me on Tuesday to show Robbie our support - be it for the full 24 hours or just one," she added.
"I hope my campaign will help people think a little more about the people around them, Christmas is a good time to think about other people.
"If people can see what I am doing then maybe they can take the time to just stop and talk to a homeless person, hear their story.
Read more:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11298171/Student-raises-thousands-for-homeless-man-who-offered-her-3-for-a-taxi.html
