A Tampa man is hoping to find out if a kind gesture for a homeless man paid off.
Youtuber Omargosh TVcreated a video last week that has gone viral showing him dropping fake money in front of a homeless man in Tampa. The reason was to see what the man would do with the money with the intention of buying him a hotel for a night or two and some food.
In the video though, Omar wasn't expecting the man to say he just wants a ticket home to see his son in Seattle.
Without hesitation, Omar tells the man Mike, he will buy him a bus ticket home right now.
The whole journey is captured on film.
"I'm hoping maybe this video or this story reaches one of his family members and they can see how family is important to him," said Omar.
The video shows the value of a bus ticket home -- right now the city of Sarasota is offering free bus tickets home for people living on the streets. Full-time caseworkers assigned to the streets of Sarasota screen homeless individuals to see if they have family they can reunite with. After a thorough screening process and contact with family members in those other states, a bus ticket is purchased.
So far operation Homeward Bound has sent 20 individuals to states like Montana, Michigan and more.
As for the homeless population, deputies with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office say there seems to be more people. Deputy Krager says it appears people are coming from Orlando but she doesn't know who is bringing them and can't prove someone is.
For Omar, he's continuing his work to help the homeless, buying them shoes and clothing, but the bus ticket home for Mike is something he'll never forget.
It is unknown what Mike's last name is.
