By Police1 Staff
BENICIA, Calif. — Last September, an act of kindness by Benicia police for a man who walked more than two hours to work went viral and changed the trajectory of his life. But the story didn’t end there.
Jourdan Duncan, 19, and Cpl. Kirk Keffer formed a relationship after Keffer noticed Duncan walking along a busy highway on multiple nights, the Washington Post reported. After Duncan told Keffer he walked to work each day and was trying to save money for college, Keffer decided he wanted to help.
Keffer told his shift supervisor about Duncan’s situation and the department raised money to buy Duncan a bike. The story quickly went viral.
According to the publication, his commute was shortened to an hour. But Benicia officers wanted to do more.
They launched a GoFundMe to raise $5,000 to repair Duncan’s car, which had broken down and was the reason he was forced to start walking to work. They reached their goal within two days.
They decided to increase the goal, and after donations reached $25,000, they moved it to $50,000 to help Duncan “fund his educational aspirations and dreams” and pick a new car.
“The community just had an outpouring of love for him,” Keffer told the Washington Post.“It was something the community needed, something positive at the time.”
The campaign raised more than $42,000.
Duncan consulted with Keffer on the car purchase. He chose a 2003 Volkswagen Passat and is using the rest of the money to attend classes at Solano Community College. He eventually wants to be a California Highway Patrol officer.
“This is actually my first year and official year of attending this school,” he told KTVU. “I’m so happy to be here.”
Duncan still works the night shift to continue to raise money to transfer to a four-year college to major in criminal justice and attend the police academy.
“I just want to tell everyone thank you,” he said. “I can’t let it be for nothing.”