Community Comes Together To Raise Over $2K For Homeless Man

LINDENHURST, NY — A Lindenhurst woman raised over $2,000 after starting an online fundraiser to help a homeless man and fellow Lindy alum.

Local resident Danielle Russo-Zahlman recently started a GoFundMe to help as part of a project she wanted to start to "help a fellow neighbor."

Russo-Zahlman was inspired to help those in need after coming across James Blakla whenever she went to the Chase Bank on Wellwood Avenue.

According to her GoFundMe, she discovered Blakla wasn't always homeless. He worked as a sheet metal worker for 30 years but "lost his way" due to "traumatic events in his life" and currently doesn't have the tools or technical education to be able to "pick up the pieces of his life."

She has been helping over the past months, bringing him meals several times to me. But after a long conversation, she decided she wanted to do more.

"[Blakla]'s owed a pension from being a sheet metal worker and he is also owed all of his pandemic funds (due to being homeless he has no mailing address)," Russo-Zahlman wrote. "With James' approval, I would like to use some of the funds collected to get him a P.O. Box so this never happens again."

In about three weeks, the GoFundMe campaign raised a total of $2,340. The goal is to raise a total of $3,000.

To read more or to donate, visit the GoFundMe page here.