No one can say James Robertson didn’t pay his dues or deserve a break during these long winter months in Detroit.
Today, thanks to a college student studying computers, Robertson won’t be trudging 21 miles to his factory job, five days a week. It will be easier on his soles — and his soul — to keep up that perfect attendance record, now that tens of thousands of dollars in donations were raised to buy him a car.
Two days ago a front page story in the Detroit Press featured Robertson’s incredible work ethic and humble spirit, and inspired a 19-year-old techie to start a campaign to buy him a car. Just like the story yesterday about the young beautician raising more than a quarter million dollars for a disabled mugging victim, Evan Leedy started off with a goal to collect just $5,000.
A day later, the soft-spoken machine operator got to meet the student from Wayne State University and said, “I’m always going to be in your debt — I will never forget this.”
The single man of 56 told a group of reporters that he was thinking about buying the Ford Taurus, which he thought was a lot like himself, “plain on the outside, sturdy on the inside.”
People across the country were touched by the toil of his long daily commute. Gene Bowen of Las Vegas, wrote: “Dedication and pride obviously drives this man to do what most everyone else would simply conclude was not worth $400 before taxes a week. He is a very special human being.”
The banker who originally introduced the story to the Michigan newspaper, after noticing James on his arduous journey in all kinds of weather due to lack of bus service in outer Detroit, has assembled a board of advisors at Robertson’s request to manage the huge influx of donations.
(WATCH his inspiring story below or READ it here, along with the admiring comments)
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