A local outreach group is sharing the story of a Penticton man who could use some help from the community.
Bob Richards, 77, has been spotted multiple times collecting cans in the streets by the outreach workers with .
Richards, a former Ironman Penticton competitor who gave up the sport to help his sick wife, informed them he was not homeless but simply collecting cans and bottles to make money to pay a large amount of debt he has accumulated due to a series of unfortunate circumstances.
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After Keep the Cold off Penticton shared Richardssa国际传媒� story on Facebook the post sa国际传媒渨ent crazy,sa国际传媒� said Mike Forster of Keep the Cold off Penticton. Ironman Canada eventually caught wind of Richardssa国际传媒� struggles through the post and launched a for him.
The GoFundMe page describes Richards as a sa国际传媒渒ind and caring individual that took out a loan to help his fellow citizens.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淥ne would imagine that fate might look kindly on such an individual. Unfortunately, that is not always the case,sa国际传媒� the page reads.
According to the GoFundMe page, Richards took out a sa国际传媒渉uge loansa国际传媒� in 2010 to help a family purchase a mobile home in Penticton.
In 2014, the family moved and left the mobile home a sa国际传媒渢otal wreck,sa国际传媒� forcing him to give the mobile home away and transfer the credit line to his mortgage, according to the GoFundMe page.
Richards has slowly managed to drop the amount owing from $130,000 to $93,000 but still struggles to cope with the debt. He remains determined to pay it off.
sa国际传媒淏ound and determined, Isa国际传媒檒l get back on my feet without the financial stress,sa国际传媒� he said.
Richardssa国际传媒� full story can be found on the and original Facebook post from .
As of Feb. 16, the GoFundMe has raised nearly $8,000 of the $20,000 just one day after it was launched.
Correction: The original story indicated that Richards bought a mobile home for his children. Richards had actually bought a home for a family he was helping in Oliver. Black Press Media regrets the error.
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jesse.day@pentictonwesternnews.com
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