Nothing makes my heart sing more than a person doing good deeds for people in need. To me, a person like this is selfless, kind, and generally a good human being, the type of person I want to hang around and the type of person I think our world needs more of.
A 19-year-old man in San Jose, California who goes by the name “Batman” is someone who meets that description.
The anonymous individual dresses up in a Batman costume as he walks around his city to perform good deeds for people residing in homeless encampments.
The caring hero uses his personal cash, about $20 a day, along with donations to help others in need. He delivers things such as bottled drinks, new articles of clothing, and canned tuna and ravioli to pass out to those who need it. In addition, he keeps a first aid kit on his waist along with duct tape and zip ties to help the homeless population fix or create a makeshift shelter.
And with school now out, he goes out on his mission almost daily.
But why the Batman costume? For one, the teen wishes to keep his identity a secret. In addition, he hopes his bright, purple cape will attract people on the streets and will encourage them to ask him what he’s doing and how they can help too.
“I want to draw attention to the issues that people don’t like to look at,” he explained. “And Batman is very attention-grabbing. And purple Batman is even more attention-grabbing. So I figured I’d use that to help show people what’s going on in San Jose.”
But this Batman isn’t a rich kid spreading his wealth; he’s an ordinary (but big-hearted) high school graduate who drives a 2002 Toyota Avalon and lives with his parents. He also has inspirations to study Industrial Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology this fall.
“I want to show that literally anybody can do this. You don’t have to be super-rich to do this. You don’t have to be super old or super young. You can be whatever age. You can be anybody,” he said.
Although the 19-year-old is doing amazing things, he has noticed that the homeless population seems to be getting even worse in San Jose. For that reason, he decided to publicly collect donations to keep up with the worsening issue.
Batman of San Jose accepts donations via Venmo at Batman-4-Homeless as well as through Patreon.
Please considering donating if possible! You can learn more about this teen’s mission below.
