A crowdfunding platform raised 34,000 euros for a homeless man who found a wallet with money and took it to the police

In Amsterdam, a 33-year-old homeless man named Hadier Al-Ali found a wallet containing almost 2,000 euros and took it to the police because he thought the money was more important to its owner. The story went viral online, and a public crowdfunding platform raised 34,000 euros for him in 24 hours.

As Hadier Al-Ali told De Stentor, he found the wallet at Amsterdam Central Station, where he usually looked for empty cans and bottles to hand in. The wallet was lying on a bench and was slightly open. The homeless man picked it up and counted the money in it: it turned out to be about 2,000 euros. The man took the wallet to the police station on Nieuwezids Voorburgwal and said that he did not know whose money it was: "Maybe someone saved it for their child. Maybe it belongs to someone who really needs it."

The police presented Khadjer Al-Ali with the Silver Finger, an award given in Amsterdam to locals who have done something exceptional. He also received a €50 gift certificate. The story began to be covered on social media and was picked up by the GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign. They launched a fundraiser and within 24 hours the account had raised just over €34,000.

Khadjer Al-Ali has been homeless for a year and a half. He has two children, aged five and six, who live in the city of Apeldoorn, the crowdfunding campaign said.

Interestingly, this is not the first such story. In Canada in 2015, a homeless man found a wallet with the same amount of money and also brought it to the police. A similar crowdfunding campaign was launched, which raised 5 thousand euros. The man could not be found for a long time, as he refused to give his name to the police. When he was found and offered to take the money, he refused the money and asked for help in finding a job. The man asked to give the money collected for him to a fund to help the homeless.