Like many people, a Pennsylvania man felt moved by a now-famous homeless college student’s story.
Andy Ungaro, who owns a small automotive repair shop in Philadelphia, decided to donate a car to Fred Barley after seeing his story on Facebook.
“My girlfriend forwarded it,” Ungaro said. “This one got passed along and it caught my attention.”
Barley, 19, is well known for riding his brother’s bicycle more than 50 miles from Conyers to Barnesville, where he planned to register for fall classes at Gordon State College.
The campus wasn’t open that early in July, so Barley pitched a tent and planned to camp out until the dorms opened.
Campus police found him in the tent and, after speaking with him about what he was doing there, took him to a local motel and put him up for two nights. The wife of one of the officers posted the story on Facebook. Soon, reporters in Atlanta picked up the story, and it went nationwide.
VIDEO: Fred Barley thanks everyone for their support
After collecting more than $180,000 from donors across the country, Barnesville resident Casey Blaney, who started a GoFundMe page, decided to halt donations, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. Blaney's lawyer, Wright Gammon, told The AJC the fundraiser was shut down because of the "sheer size of the amount of giving."
But that didn’t stop people like Ungaro from getting involved. He said when he first heard Barley’s story, he started looking into it more.
“I had just taken this car in on trade,” Ungaro said about a 2013 Hyundai Elantra. “I inquired if (Barley) had a driver’s license.”
When Ungaro determined Barley had a license and was in a position to accept the car should Ungaro give it, Ungaro decided to make the donation.
“I got the car together and made it mechanically sound so he could use it while he gets his college degree,” Ungaro said.
A family in the Barnesville area offered to put Ungaro and his girlfriend up over the weekend and fly them back to Philadelphia for work on Monday, Ungaro said.
When Barley and Ungaro met up Thursday night, Ungaro said he was impressed and inspired by Barley.
“I thought he was the real deal,” Ungaro said. “A really humble kid; he’s just a lovable 19-year-old.”
Though Barney can look forward to studying medicine with money for tuition and a car to drive, he told Channel 2 Action News he won’t forget where he came from.
“The bike is never going away,” Barney said.
MORE: Dispute over $184,000 in donations to homeless student is resolved, student says
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