Homeless Atlanta Kid Rides A Child's Bike 6 Hours Carrying Everything He Owns And Lives In A Tent On Campus To Register For College Classes
BARNESVILLE, Ga. – Fred Barley was so determined to get to Gordon State College to start his second semester that he rode a child’s bicycle to get there. He was carrying everything he owned in duffel bags and had two gallons of water.
“I didn’t have a ride here. My girlfriend couldn’t drive me. She didn’t have a car. So my little brother handed me a bike,” Barley told Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen. “It was hot, but I thought, ‘I’m too far to turn back around, so I might as well keep going forward to get my goal.’”
When he arrived, he pitched a tent to wait until the first day of registration until the cops found him.
“I was scared. I’m thinking, ‘I’m going to jail,’” Barley said.
Instead, a group of good Samaritans stepped up. The police officers paid for his first two nights at a Barnesville motel, and people from around the world stepped in from there.
“I think I literally had to ask him three times, ‘What can I do to help you?’” Casey Blaney said.
He was in class at Gordon State last semester living in the dorms. His student loans covered that, but he had nowhere to go at the end of the term.
“Something said, ‘Help him.’ I didn’t even know his name,” said DB’s Pizzaria owner Debra Adamson, who gave Barley a job.
“We had an interview sitting out front of the restaurant and that’s all he wanted. He wanted a job.”
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Is this kid real life? Is this a Kimmel skit or something? Jimmy trying out a new angle where he tries to tug at your heartstrings? I mean this kid was homeless, living on the street because he was kicked out of the dorms when the semester ended, with everything he owned in a duffle bag. It was time to register for classes so he grabbed a child sized Huffy and two gallons of water then pedaled 6 hours in the Atlanta heat back to campus. He pitched a tent and slept outside so he’d be on time to do everything. And when he wasn’t in school, he sat outside of a place he wanted to work, and got a job to earn money. People like that don’t exist, at least not today. Fred Barley is an internet creation to make people feel good. Has to be.
Also, we’ve all become so sick of GoFundMes because of how much of a joke it’s become, with people abusing it to get their vacations and Spring Breaks paid for and shit. This is exactly what it was made for and who deserves it.
A GoFundMe page started for the teen is growing larger by the minute. By Friday afternoon, it had topped $70,000.
The biology major who dreams of becoming a psychiatrist will soon go back to class. He’s says words don’t even being to describe how grateful he is for everything.
“Every single thing. The prayers, the food, the money, the bikes — I thank God every day,’ he said.
A biology major who wants to become a doctor! Fuck off dude. I went to school in Atlanta too, I was an English major so that I could skip 85% of my classes and eat Chick Fil A and tan in that sweet ass weather. Are you just trying to make everyone feel bad about themselves or something? This “feel good” internet story is starting to make me feel like a piece of shit to be completely honest.
PS,
Just wanted to highlight this part from the story in case anyone missed it or in case other news organizations try to cut it out of their articles for some reason.
“I was scared. I’m thinking, ‘I’m going to jail,’” Barley said.
Instead, a group of good Samaritans stepped up. The police officers paid for his first two nights at a Barnesville motel, and people from around the world stepped in from there.