It pays to have integrity....literally
- Billy Ray Harris kept the ring safe for the woman who had mistaken dropped it into his collection cup
- Sarah Darling and her husband setup a fundraising page for Harris which has so far raised more than $175,000
- The publicity surrounding Harris' good deed has also enabled his sister to reconnect with him after 16 years
- Harris plans to spent his money on a house and a trip to visit his relatives in Texas
A homeless man in Kansas City, Missouri has received more than he could ever have imagined after he returned a diamond engagement ring to its rightful owner last month.
Sarah Darling and her husband were so taken with Billy Ray Harris' act of kindness that they set-up an online fundraising page on giveforward.com which has so far more than $175,000 for the homeless man who had regularly been sleeping under a bridge.
Now Harris has been further blessed after the publicity surrounding his good deed has helped him to reconnect with his estranged family in Texas, where he is originally from.
Billy Ray Harris has been overwhelmed by people's donations but reconnecting with his long-lost family is even better, he says
Billy Ray’s younger sister, Robin Harris had been looking for her brother for 16 years and even thought he might be dead before she was astonished to turn on the TV news two weeks ago and hear about his kindness.
Since then brother and sister have reconnected during a series of long and emotional telephone conversations during which they caught up on the past decade and a half.
Robin has also helped Billy Ray to get back in touch with their three other siblings, as well as numerous nieces and nephews, some of whom he didn’t even know existed.
Human kindness: Billy Ray Harris returned a diamond engagement ring to owner Sarah Darling after she mistakenly dropped it in his collection cup
Darling had put her engagement ring in her purse for safekeeping, but then emptied the contents into Harris' collection cup by mistake
Billy Ray says he is overjoyed to be back in touch with his siblings. ‘I hadn't talked to her in so many years. I was totally excited and surprised,’ he said of speaking to his sister again after so long.
When Sarah Darling accidentally dropped her engagement ring into Billy Ray's donation cup she set off a chain of events which have changed his life forever.
Harris hopes to use the money generously donated to him by strangers to buy an apartment and fly back to Texas to see his long lost family.
