Panhandler donates to art gallery after receiving a large inheritance

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
SAN FRANCISCO -- Don has had many roles in life, few of them what most people would call admirable. He's been a burglar, a crack smoker, a state prisoner, an alcoholic and, for the past three years, a panhandler.
But now, thanks to riches from out of the blue, he has a new role to add to his name:
Art benefactor.
Don's long-estranged mother died recently, leaving him $187,000 -- and the first thing Don did when he got the money was cut a $10,000 check to the art gallery he has sat in front of for two years, panhandling and begging for free food. He got drunk to celebrate, then stumbled into the door of the Blue Room Gallery, walked straight up to owner Paul Mahder and handed him the check.
Mahder said he burst into tears when he saw the amount, and 56-year-old Don soon followed suit.
"We both stood there crying," Mahder said. "Me, because I knew how much this meant to Don. And Don was crying because, I think, he was able to really do something big for something he really cared about."
Don also made sure in the days that followed -- the check handover was four weeks ago -- that he took care of himself, too. He bought a $35,000 trailer so he could have his first real home in at least a decade. He bought a Rolex watch, gold bracelets and necklaces.