They began queuing up at 8 a.m., bringing their tales of woe.
'I've worked hard my whole life. I never thought I'd be living ina homeless shelter. Or asking for help like this,' said JohnHolland, 42, who wore a shirt and tie under a proper trench coat tostand in line at Union Station yesterday.
Holland, who lost his job as a cook months ago, was amonghundreds of people waiting for cash handouts from a businessmanbanking on good deeds and word of mouth as his advertising gimmick.
'Bailout Bill,' as he asked to be called, listened to stories ofeconomic hardship, one after another, recording each one with avideo camera. There were grandmothers without health insurance,unemployed truckers, scores of homeless folks and destitute motherswith their children.
'I'm seeing patterns now,' said Bailout Bill, who refused to givehis full identity. 'People having a hard time finding work. Thereare lots of health insurance issues. But I tell you, I've felt likeSanta all day.'
With a squad of off-duty New York police officers watching overhim, Bailout Bill, stoic in black shades and ball cap, sat in abooth, his pile of money stashed out of sight. He listened to thestories and handed out cash -- at least $50 per person. Many got$100. A woman with three children who said she is facing evictiongot $350, according to Bailout Bill, who turned no one away. He saidhe gave away $50,000 by day's end.
Why? It's a business gamble, said Drew Tybus, the publicist forBailoutBooth.com.
The venture is a classified ad Web site with video -- Craigslist meets YouTube. The founders hope people who arestruggling in the recession and need to pawn their belongings willpay to post creative video sales pitches on the site.
Yesterday, people brought their bills, eviction notices andunemployment checks as evidence of their struggles.
Antoine Dyson, 37, got his $50, then rushed back to the homelessshelter where he lives to spread the news. He returned with 75people. Byron Mitchell, 54, who was laid off from his moving companyjob last year, took his $100 bailout to the Department of MotorVehicles. 'I've got eight tickets. They booted my car. It just piledup on me, and I couldn't catch up,' he said.
Since its launch Feb. 3, real estate listings on the site amountto land for sale in Thailand and Transylvania. The video concept hasalready been done by sites such as Realpeoplerealstuff.com, so it'snot novel.
Tybus said the founder sat down with his investor money andwondered whether to do what GoDaddy.com did and spend big onadvertising during the Super Bowl. But instead of putting about $1million toward a 20-second blip on TV, the Web site went with aguerrilla marketing campaign. There was a cash giveaway in NewYork's Times Square this month, and others are planned for Bostonand Philadelphia.
'It's going to keep me in business,' said Keith Shaifer, 50, whois homeless and works as a portrait sketch artist on the street. 'Igot $50! I'm going to get a small easel, some more paper, pencils.This is good.'
