(NECN: Josh Brogadir) - So much for nice guys finishing last.
A good head on his shoulders is helping Glen James realize the karma of doing good.
"I'm shocked and surprised and really happy," James said with a laugh.
A whirlwind week continues its remarkable spin through the life and times of Glen James.
Homeless in Boston, his elation is a result of karma, after presenting a backpack he found containing $42,000 to Boston police Saturday at the South Bay Shopping Center.
And when the rightful owner, a Chinese national, got it back with no financial reward paid out, Glen soon became the rightful recipient of thousands of donations from a public who fell in love with a story of a man down on his luck doing the right thing.
"And I said, this will be an awesome little opportunity. I could help this guy out a little bit, you know, I was expecting maybe $200 or $300 in about a month timeframe maybe. I was just going to send it to the P.O. Box (at the homeless shelter) and it's just caught on," said Ethan Whittington.
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And how.
Whittington is a sales and marketing guy from Virginia we reached via Skype. He heard what Glen did, and took the movement online to GoFundMe.com.
In three days, the coffers surged to well over $100,000.
"If we could get everybody together focus on one goal like this, there's no telling how many things we could do to help each other out and possibly make some real change," Whittington said.
Ethan spoke to Glen a few days ago.
On the street for the better part of eight years due, he says due to medical reasons, on Thursday night, we caught up with Glen as he walked to a shelter in Boston, and we wondered what he plans to do with all that money.
"Definitely get housing, housing, housing, housing, is the first thing," he said, a permanent place to live.
By now, like us, you might wonder logistically how a man without an address or bank account is going to receive this money.
Glen told us he has a sister in the area and she is assisting with the financial piece.
For now, the money remains with GoFundMe.
Click here if you'd like to help.
As of 10 p.m. Thursday, the site has raised $117,545.
