Thousands Of Dollars Raised For Teen Who Biked 6 Hours To Get To College
A 19-year-old homeless teen bikes more than 6 hours to get to his college campus weeks before the school opened for his second semester.
Local police officers could have given him a ticket for sleeping on the grounds but decided to help the teen in a big way reports WSBTV:
Officers found the teen sleeping in a tent over the weekend outside a local college. Instead of giving him a ticket for trespassing, the officers listened to his story – and that’s where this amazing story begins.
Fred Barley, a homeless college student, told the officers he had ridden his little brother’s bike six hours from Conyers to Barnesville to register for classes for his second semester of college. He had two duffel bags carrying all he owned and 2 gallons of water as he rode through the heat of a Georgia summer.
Problem is, the Gordon State College campus dorms don’t open until August, so Barley pitched a tent in some bushes on campus and prepared to spend the next few weeks there, with nothing more than a box of cereal to eat.
The biology major, who dreams of going to medical school one day, told the officers he thought the bushes on campus would be a much safer place for him to sleep than staying in his tent in Conyers.
Fred had been out all day looking for a job to help offset his expenses while enrolled at the college. After cops heard his story they immediately sprung into action to help the young man…
“The stuff that’s happening with police officers, I am black and he didn’t care what color I was. He just helped me, and that meant a lot,” Barley said.
The officer’s wife posted the story on a Barnesville community Facebook page and hundreds of people — including Casey Blaney — stepped up to help.
“I was shocked by how much support people will give from Lamar County and counties all over and even people from across the country that I’ve never met just wanted to help so much in my life. I was just so shocked and grateful,” Barley said.
laney and the motel owner paid for him to stay in his room until he can get into the dorms, which are allowing him to move in early — on Monday. A local pizzeria, DB’s Pizzeria, hired him on as a dishwasher.
But Barley says despite all of that, for which he is extremely grateful, it’s the people that mean the most.
“Some of the gifts aren’t as important as the friends I’ve made. More important than everything — the clothes, the shoes — the relationships mean so much more to me,” he said.
People have donated school supplies, clothes, shoes, food and even a mountain bike for the homeless teen:
The GoFundMe page started to help the teen through college and medical school has now reached over $178k in just 4 days:
This young man is a great example of determination and persistence! The community who helped him is a testament to the fact that sometimes it takes a village to raise a child. Learn more about Fred by clicking HERE.
