AKRON, Ohio — For weeks on his daily commute in New Franklin, Jeremy Earley noticed someone in a McDonalds uniform walking several miles each day.
No matter the weather, Earley says he would see this person out in the elements, so he had to learn more.
“I posted on the local talk of the town community page and that message made its way to the boss of this man who works here, and his boss reached out to me, and we connected and she kind of told me his backstory. And how far he was walking every day,” said Earley.
It turns out this young man, Lamar, was walking a round trip of nine miles to and from work each day.
That’s when the community decided to step in and create a Go Fund Me to help.
“Our goal was $500. We started out with that and we ended up with nearly $2,200 in community funds raised for Lamar.”
With that money, Lamar was able to purchase a used car and just in time to avoid walking to work in the snow.
“I learned through his boss that he was actually taking the buss to that location before his walk even began, so his commute took him I was told upwards of two hours, so that just showed his dedication and his commitment to the job he had, and I think that is what really drew me to him.”
Earley hopes his community’s actions will inspire others to give back.
“A lot of people wonder how they can help but never take that first step and just go ahead and reach out to someone and it feels great. We want this to snowball and turn into something bigger and better and maybe this is one of the first gestures and something we can build from as a community, especially during these times. We can help each other out.”
