President Kaplan called on the University of New Haven community to help raise funds for the homeless woman who called the police after witnessing a student taking guns from his car in the Shop Rite parking lot and walking toward campus.
“All of us are grateful for her actions. Some have suggested that we provide community recognition for our ‘Good Samaritan,’” Kaplan said in an email addressed to the University Community.
“Our Good Samaritan” refers to the woman who “first saw something and then had the presence of mind to alert the authorities,” on Dec. 3. 2013, according to Carol Koziatek, Vice President of Human Resources. The woman wishes to remain anonymous because she doesn’t want the attention—in her mind, what she did was just her duty as a citizen; she doesn’t want to be thought of as a hero.
She took her duty quite seriously; after seeing William Dong removing guns from his car, the woman persistently attempted to alert the authorities. According to Koziatek, she had a difficult time getting the right number, but kept at it until she reached someone.
“We have established a fund for her and welcome contributions of any size,” Kaplan said. Students, parents, board members and faculty members alike expressed interest in helping the woman who “helped stop what could have been an incident with a very different outcome.” Donations can be sent via check or given electronically.
Since it was put into place, the Good Samaritan Fund has accrued $33,500. Koziatek mentioned that while there were some larger donations, a majority of the donations were in smaller increments of $10, $15 and $25. While she said she cannot know for sure, she believes that these smaller amounts came from students who felt really thankful to the woman who alerted the authorities.
“She [the woman] was very touched when I told her I thought a lot of donations had come from students,” Koziatek said.
UNH’s Good Samaritan is a homeless woman, unable to work because of sickness. “We asked her what she needed, and she said she just wanted to be out of the shelter,” Koziatek said. She was immediately placed into temporary housing for the holiday season. UNH will help the woman manage her basic needs such as food, permanent housing, bills and medical co-payments, to help her get back on her feet.
Senior Danielle Smith believes that the Good Samaritan deserves everything she’s getting. “Some people only do good things because they want credit for it, but since she wishes to remain anonymous, she [called the police] because she truly thought it was the right thing to do.”
“We seek to improve her quality of life because she cared so much about protecting ours,” Kaplan said in an email on Jan. 10. “She is extremely grateful for the outpouring of generosity and says that she never expected this level of assistance.”
