Strangers raise more than $44,000 for homeless woman after her selfless gesture goes viral

A woman living on the streets who captured the heart of thousands online has been rewarded for her generosity after a TikTok creator's interaction with her went viral.  

In his video, Jimmy Darts films himself asking Linda, a woman who had been living on the streets for almost a decade, for food.

In response, the 76-year-old woman offers Jimmy most of her food, insisting he take it without asking for anything in return.

After Linda, who lives on the streets in Costa Mesa, California, gives him a stack of food, she assures the 28-year-old that she still has something to eat 

'I have $1,000 for you,' Jimmy then tells a bewildered Linda. 'I was just helping out the first person to help me.'

The internet has raised more than $44,000 for homeless woman after her kind gesture for TikTok creator Jimmy Darts went viral 

Linda, who is seen getting emotional in the video, tearfully responds by saying she was going to use the money to sleep in a motel for the night rather than the tent she had been sleeping in - even in the stormy weather.

Overwhelmed by her generosity and kindness, thousands of TikTok users donated to her cause via a GoFundMe page, initially aiming to raise more than $30,000 for her - a goal that was surpassed.

Jimmy reunited with Linda to share the news, and documented her reaction in a TikTok, which has been viewed more than 7.2 million times. 

'I can get a van,' she said emotionally. 'That's my next step from getting up off the street.

'I need to get a van where I can sleep, I can work, I can take care of myself, I can be mobile.'

'I know which one I'll get,' she added. 'I know which one - I've been watching one.'

In a follow-up video, Jimmy added that $44,000 had been raised through the GoFundMe page in the end, which allowed Linda to move into her own place and buy a van. 

'The only word I can think of - but it's not big enough - is humbled that I am in this group, that you have helped,' she gushed.

Overwhelmed by her generosity and kindness, thousands of TikTok users donated to her cause via a GoFundMe page, which she said she was using to buy a new van

On the GoFundMe page for Linda, Jimmy shared more of her story. 

'She told me that she's been homeless since 2015 and that she became homeless so that she could help understand and help them more,' he said.

'Her mission is to help the homeless in a deeper way and help them get the real sustainable help they need.'

'I love that this is her mission and I want her to have more than enough to help the homeless,' he wrote compassionately. 

'Let's make sure that she is taken care of and more and if she ever wants to stay at a hotel or get a small place of her own to go in and out of.'

'Linda is my hero,' he concluded on the GoFundMe page.

According to figures from 2023's U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Annual Homeless Assessment Report, California accounted for 49 per cent of all unsheltered people in the country, which is around 123,423 people.

This is nearly eight times the number of unsheltered people in Florida, the state that has the next highest number.

Additionally, at 75 per cent, California had the second-highest rate of homeless people staying in unsheltered locations.