$49,000 collected for ‘honest’ Dutch homeless man

THE HAGUE - An online campaign has raised more than €34,000 (S$49,300) for a homeless man in Amsterdam who turned in a wallet stuffed with 2,000 euros in cash to police.

The 33-year-old Hadjer Al-Ali said his life had been turned “completely upside down”, according to the funding site, which raised €34,102 in just one day.

Mr Al-Ali, who has been sleeping on the streets for 18 months, can now finally arrange a rental home with the money, according to the site “support for the honest Hadjer”.

The father-of-two has also received many messages from people offering him a job. One anonymous donor gave €750 and there have been 2,800 donations in total.

He found the wallet at Amsterdam central station while he was “doing his rounds” looking for empty plastic bottles to exchange for cash.

Police said he turned in the wallet with “approximately €2,000... but unfortunately no identity papers or anything that would allow us to contact the owner.”

“Because we think that honesty should pay, he got a ‘silver thumb’ prize that we sometimes give to citizens and a gift voucher worth €50,” authorities added.

If the money is not claimed within one year, it will go to the finder.

“I want to thank everyone so, so, so much... I can’t describe how I’m feeling at the moment... I’ve been inundated by people saying the sweetest, nicest, things,” Mr Al-Ali said in a video post on Instagram.

“I can’t find the words, I don’t know what to say, I’m full of adrenaline,” he added, saying he could rebuild his life with the money collected. AFP