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This is Thomas, he has fallen on hard times and is now homeless.

As part of an experiment, a social media buff called Josh gave him $100 (£60) and followed him to see how he spent it.

Thomas, who was completely choked at receiving the money, packed up all his stuff where he was begging near the entrance to Freeway 91 in California and went straight into the nearest liquor store.


Josh’s heart sank.

Freeway 91 runs through Los Angeles (Picture: Google Maps)

But all was not as it seemed.

When Thomas emerged from the store, Josh’s film crew continued to follow him.

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Thomas ended up in a nearby park.

At this point he opened his patterned plastic bag near a picnic table with two other people who appear to be homeless sitting there.

Josh was himself choked to see Thomas had bought food rather than liquor at the store to share with several other people who had fallen on hard times.

He then moved to another table where a family, who were also in difficulty, were sitting and shared with them some corn chips among other items.

At this point Josh came out of hiding, to admit what he had done.

He asked Thomas if he knew the people he had been sharing his food with. Thomas said he didn’t, but explained that he got a ‘happiness’ out of what he was doing.

‘There are things money can’t buy,’ he added.

At this point Josh gave Thomas another $100 because he was so overwhelmed at his kindness.

Thomas then told Josh his story:

‘I was living with my parents and my step dad had cancer. They were getting hospice but it didn’t cover it – the insurance only pays so much. So I quit work because I had to be available. He passed away, then two weeks later my mother passed away from kidney failure. [The] building they’re in is being sold and all of a sudden I found myself homeless. That’s been like four months now.’

Thomas showed Josh an important lesson – never to judge a homeless person by their circumstance.

‘There’s a lot of people who are just victims of circumstance. They didn’t go homeless because they are late [or lazy or due to drug addiction] or divorce or one thing or another. There are a lot of good people who are homeless.’

Here is the video in full.

Next time you pass a homeless person in the street this Christmas, why not buy him a sandwich or cup of tea?

A campaign to raise money for Thomas has already collected nearly $10,000 in less than 24 hours.