Since Harris’s good deed hit the headlines, over 7,300 donors have pledged $168,000 to a donations website set up by Darling’s fiance. “I like it, but I don’t think I deserve it,” said Harris. “What has the world come to when a person returns something that doesn’t belong to him, and all this happens?”
By the end of the fundraiser, the donations had reached $190,000 which helped Billy Ray Harris buy a new car, put a down payment on a home, and begin fulfilling his dream of starting a house painting company. Another unexpected windfall was that Billy Ray Harris was able to reconnect with his family which he had not seen in a long time.