75-year old Willie Ortiz is a retiree who takes nightly trips around the city to care for stray animals, feeding them and gathering ones who need to be spayed or neutered. To help him pay expenses for caring for so many animals, longtime friend Kathleen Schlentz helped him set up the online fundraiser on GoFundMe.

Initially Willie hoped to earn $5,000, but donations kept pouring in until he wound up with over $26,000 instead. Now Willie has plenty of money to care for strays and has even left instructions for his family to continue caring for stray animals once he’s gone.

Of course, he may eventually be gone physically but spiritually, he’ll live forever in the hearts and memories of so many animals and animal lovers from around the world who donated to his cause.

To read more about the retiree caring for stray animals, click here.