Widower asking for help pulls heart strings of car enthusiasts

A man asking for help on a corner of Westheimer has attracted the attention of a group that is meeting in his honor. (Photo courtesy of Michael Cole) A man asking for help on a corner of Westheimer has attracted the attention of a group that is meeting in his honor. (Photo courtesy of Michael Cole) Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Widower asking for help pulls heart strings of car enthusiasts 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A 76-year-old man who has been asking for money on a west Houston street corner could be in for the surprise of his life.

Scores of car enthusiasts, most of them driving fancy vehicles, are expected to converge at noon Saturday to brighten the day of the man they know only as John.

For the past week or so, he has been on the corner of San Felipe and Voss with his sad, hand-lettered sign: "My wife died in March. I can't live on 1 Social Security check. No drugs or alcohol. I'm 76."

That caught the eye of Michael Cole, who lives nearby and passes the corner often.

"I saw the guy and said, 'This doesn't make sense - age 76, and sitting out here panhandling," Cole said. "I can't stand for this."

Reared by his grandmother, Cole, 31, said older people are dear to his heart.

Although Cole doesn't know the man's last name or what he once did for a living, he said he felt moved to do something kind for him.

"He does not fit the bill of a guy who's out there panhandling to try to take advantage of people," Cole said.

A photographer and videographer for the High Tech Corvette website, Cole is also deeply entrenched in Houston's social community of car enthusiasts.

On Facebook, he invited others to gather Nov. 9 at a restaurant at Westheimer and Fondren.

Because car enthusiasts are a tight-knit group, Cole said hundreds could show up.

If that proves true, Cole said he will establish a Paypal account to handle potential donations. Mostly, he's hoping the event will show a grieving widower that other people still care.

On the Internet, there are lots of things to make us lose faith in humanity, he said.

"And then there's the opposite, like this," he said. "We need this stuff. I'm trying to show we still have capabilities of doing good things."