A man who walks 17 miles to and from work has been gifted a bike and is now studying to get his driver’s license after receiving $26,000 in donations to buy a car thanks to a kindhearted stranger who offered him a ride last week.
Donte Franklin, 20, from Oklahoma, has to trek more than eight miles to get to his job as a cook at Buffalo Wild Wings, which requires him to leave his house three hours early to make it to his shifts on time.
‘I really don’t care if it gets tiring. I just have to keep pushing,’ Franklin told Fox affiliate KOKH. ‘I walk just to make my family proud.’
Scroll down for video
Dedicated: Donte Franklin, 20, from Oklahoma, has to leave his house three miles early and trek more than eight miles to get to his job as a cook at Buffalo Wild Wings
Good Samaritan: Franklin’s life changed forever last week when Michael Lynn (pictured) saw him walking in the scorching heat and offered him a ride
‘I haven’t missed a shift at all,’ he added.
Franklin credited his late mother with giving him the motivation and strength to go on and make the difficult journey each day.
‘She passed away when I was 16-years-old. She had Hepatitis C. After she passed away it’s just been hard for me,’ he said.
Franklin’s life changed forever last week when Michael Lynn saw him walking in the scorching heat and offered him a ride.
Touched: Lynn was so moved by Franklin’s dedication to his job that he shared the cook’s story on Facebook
Amazing: A local bike group gifted Franklin a new bicycle to ride to work after an administrator came across Lynn’s Facebook post
‘I was going down 12th Street and I saw him,’ Lynn told ABC affiliate KOCO. ‘I was thinking, “Boy it’s a hot day.” One thing led to another, and I’m finding out he’s [walking to work]… I just couldn’t believe it.’
The Good Samaritan was so moved by Franklin’s dedication to his job that he shared the cook’s story on Facebook, where it was seen by Kerri Collins.
Collins is the administrator of My Riding Buddies Oklahoma (MRBO) and Bikers for Elves, a biker charity group that her husband founded.
‘Anytime I see something posted concerning anybody anywhere in Oklahoma, I immediately jump in and we do whatever we can do as a group,’ she told KOCO.
‘It just touched me that this man is only 20 years old and is walking to two different jobs with nothing in the heat. It opened my heart, because kids his age don’t do that.’
Heartwarming: A GoFundMe page was also set up in his name to raise money for him to buy a car. As of Wednesday, the fundraiser has received more than $47,000 in donations
Life-changing: Franklin, who is studying to become a welder, still has to get his driver’s license, but he plans on riding his new bike to work in the meantime
‘I love this guy like my own’: Lynn has kept in touch with Franklin since he gave him a ride, and he hopes that they stay in each other’s lives
The local bike group surprised Franklin with a new bicycle to ride to and from work.
There has also been a GoFundMe page set up in his name to raise money for him to buy a car. As of Wednesday, the fundraiser has received more than $47,000 in donations.
Franklin, who is studying to become a welder, still has to get his driver’s license, but he plans on riding his new bike to work in the meantime.
‘I can really help my family with this,’ he told KOKH. ‘It’s just a really good blessing.’
Lynn has kept in touch with Franklin since he gave him a ride, and he hopes that they stay in each other’s lives.
‘I think we need to keep each other,’ he told KOKH. ‘I love this guy like my own.’