Homeless man in Canberra gives touching donation to rescue dog organisation

"Those that have little are the biggest givers."

So said a Facebook sage this week in response to a gesture that has given many people reason to pause and reflect.

There is a donation bin outside the Ainslie IGA for ACT Rescue and Foster, an organisation in which members save dogs from euthanasia and foster them temporarily in their own home for as long as it takes to find a new, loving owner.

The donation bin was launched in April by Ginninderra MLA Yvette Berry; the brainchild of Dogs on the Run co-owner Carolyn Kidd who walks dogs for a living. (That's the life!)

The idea is for people to leave in the bin bought or good-quality second-hand items for pooches such as food, blankets and collars, which are then passed on to ARF.

The effort has been warmly supported by Ainslie IGA owner Manuel Xyrakis who moves the bin in and out of the shop each day.

SO, this week Carolyn Kidd was busy emptying the bin when Manuel told her he had been given a donation of money to be passed on to ARF.

It wasn't until she got home and opened the envelope that she saw the $5 donation for the rescue dogs was from a homeless man, an identity around the Ainslie shops known as Homeless Joe.

Carolyn said the gesture left "a lump in my throat".

"I just thought, 'That is an extraordinary, amazing thing to do when someone is homeless and has nothing'," she said.

Manuel said he had asked the homeless man if he was sure he wanted to make the donation.

"He said, 'Yes, yes, I just want to donate it for the dogs'," Manuel said.

Carolyn was also moved by the "extraordinary care and compassion" shown by Manuel.

"He could have just put the money in an envelope and dropped it in the bin, but he wanted to treat Joe's incredible gesture with the respect it deserved," she said.

"He wrote the note, put it and the money in a plastic bag and kept it in his safe until he saw me emptying out the bin [Wednesday] night.

"That he did that, shows the type of person he is. As well as being a highly successful businessman, he's also a humanitarian."