More good news for Donald Gould, the homeless piano player who went viral late last month after the internet picked up on his breathtaking performances on the streets of Sarasota. Spring Arbor University in Michigan is giving Gould a free ride to finish his music education, because it previously came out that he had enrolled in the university in 1990, but dropped out just a few short years later because he didn’t have enough money to finish his degree.
In a statement to USA Today, a representative for the university talked about how they came about the decision to offer Gould this opportunity:
“Offering him the scholarship was an easy decision for us to make because of who we are as a Christian university,” Malachi Crane, vice president for enrollment and marketing at SAU, said in an email statement. “We have seen countless students and lives impacted by the transformational education we provide and know that Donald has a unique gift for music that he can use to change lives.”
Gould’s GoFundMe page has also now raised more than $40,000 in just eight days, and, in even better news, Gould has made the decision to enter a rehab facility to address his issues with substance abuse. Here’s hoping these are just the first steps to get this remarkable person on track to claim back his life. Here he is all cleaned up with his friend Paul, who joins him in rehab:
