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Youth Who Walks 17 Miles Each Day So He Can Work is Given New Bike and $52,000 From Good Samaritans

June 30, 2021353 views0

Some people may say that they are dedicated to their work, but others not only speak what they speak, they walk the road, literally.

To get to his turn as the cook for Buffalo Wild Wings, Donte Franklin would leave work three hours early every day and walk more than eight miles to get there on time. At the end of the day, the 20-year-old oklahoman reversed his journey to walk home.

Franklin attributes his incredible work ethic to his late mother, who passed away four years ago. “I really don’t care if he gets tired. I just have to keep pushing, “Franklin said. Fox News, “I walk just to make my family proud.”

Whether he has a guardian angel watching over him or not, Franklin’s life recently received a surprising and unexpected boost thanks to a random act of kindness from a stranger.

Michael Lynn was running errands when he saw a young man, Franklin, walking in the sweltering summer heat. On his way back, he noticed that the same young man, who was still walking, decided to offer him a ride.

When Lynn learned more about Franklin’s 17-mile work pilgrimage, she couldn’t help but feel more than a little awed. He decided to share the details of Franklin’s story on Facebook, where it was quickly shared more than 1,000 times.

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One of the people who saw it was Kerri Collins. She and her husband are the promoters of a charity motorcycle group called My Riding Buddies Oklahoma and Bikers for Elves (MRBO).

“Every time I see something posted about someone anywhere in Oklahoma, I immediately step in and we do everything we can as a group,” said Keri Collins. KOCO. “I was touched that this man is only 20 years old and walking to two different jobs with nothing in the heat. It opened my heart because kids her age don’t do that. “

In appreciation for his extraordinary efforts, MRBO presented Franklin with a new bicycle before his next shift. His commute to work had gotten a lot easier, but Franklin’s good luck was just beginning.

Inspired by the courage and determination of the young man, a GoFundMe page was set up in your name to buy a car. So far, about $ 52,000 has been raised.

Franklin, who is studying to be a welder, does not yet have a driver’s license. While he plans to buy a car eventually, in the meantime, he will use the funds to help his family and take his bike to work.

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Donte Franklin says that he considers everything that has happened to him to be a blessing and believes that he and Lynn were destined to become friends. It’s something Lynn believes too.

“As long as he wants, I want to keep him in my life and I want to be in his life,” Lynn told KOCO. “… I told him, if the Lord opens the door for you, go through it … I think it is open for him and the rest depends on him.”

And we suspect that this is not just talking for the sake of talking.

(WATCH Dante’s story in the KOCO video below.)