He walked 33 km every day to go to work and they donated 90 thousand dollars to him

Credit: AP

Washington.- After a Detroit newspaper revealed James Robertson’s story, thousands of Americans showed their solidarity. Despite the difficulties, the man has had perfect attendance for more than 12 years.Hundreds of people have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to help a Detroit man who says he regularly walks 21 miles to and from work, Infobae reports.

The Detroit Free Press reported that James Robertson rides trucks part of the way to his factory job in suburban Rochester Hills, but because they don’t cover the entire route, he ends up walking about 8 miles before his shift starts at 2 p.m. and another 13 miles when it ends at 10 a.m. He’s recently been getting a ride from a banker who saw him walking every day and eventually asked what he was doing.

After the newspaper wrote about the 56-year-old’s situation over the weekend, many people started launching initiatives to help him buy a car and pay for insurance. Some have offered to drive him for free and others have offered to buy or give him a car.

Robertson began his daily commute to the factory where he molds parts after his car broke down 10 years ago and bus service was cut. He has had perfect attendance for more than 12 years.

“I set our attendance standards with this guy,” said Todd Wilson, factory manager at Schain Mold & Engineering. “I mean, if this guy can make it, walking all those miles in the snow and rain, let me tell you I’ve got people in Pontiac, 10 minutes away, saying he can’t make it. Bullshit!”

Evan Leedy, a 19-year-old student at Wayne State University, read the story and started a GoFundMe website with a goal of $5,000. By Monday afternoon, he had raised more than $90,000.

Robertson said he was flattered by the attention and amazed that strangers wanted to help him.

Asked about a newly available federal program on Detroit’s bus system that could pick him up at home and drop him off at work, Robertson said, “I’d rather they spend the money on a 24-hour transit system, not a little bus for me. This city needs buses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And you can tell City Hall and the mayor that I said that.”