Josh Paler Lin, a YouTube star whose channel has more than 700,000 subscribers, decided that he wanted to try a social experiment. Testing the belief that all homeless people would spend money on alcohol, Lin gave a homeless man $100 and followed him around with a camera to see what he would do with the money.
What happens after the donation will definitely surprise you! This heartwarming video has already garnered more than 11 million views because of its wonderful ending.
Right after our experimenter gave the money to the homeless man, who is named Thomas, he headed straight for the liquor store, affirming Lin's—and many others'—belief. When he emerges from the store with a large bag, however, Thomas goes straight to the park and pulled out food and shared it with the other homeless. There was no alcohol in the bag.
Afterwards, Lin confronts Thomas only to find out that he didn't know any of the people in the park—he just wanted to help other people in need. Lin felt so bad about his assumption that he approached Thomas again to give him more money. He then found out that Thomas had quit his job to take care of his sick parents, but lost his family home after they died. He has been living on the street for four months.
In addition to handing him more cash, Lin also setup an IndieGoGo page to help get Thomas back on his feet. So far, donations have reached close to $56,000.
"People think I changed his life," Lin said on the Today show. "For me, it's completely the opposite. I feel that he changed my life."
He maintains that the video was not staged.
Watch the heartwarming video above!
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)