The group of homeless people had been left without heat sources after the fire department confiscated about 100 donated propane tanks they were using to keep warm because they posed a fire threat.
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Payne then turned to Facebook to crowdfund more rooms, and donations poured in from all over. In all, the volunteers picked up the tab for 60 hotel rooms.
Salvation Army spokeswoman Jacqueline Rachev told the Chicago Tribune that the hotel rooms were paid for through the end of the week.
"All of us don't know each other," Payne said of all the donors. "Maybe they didn't know how to or where to start to help, so Im glad that I was able to be that vehicle."
Two men in the group thanked Payne for the generous donation.
"We don't get that type of help," one of the men, named Jermaine, told CBS Chicago. "I really needed them at that point, so they came right in time."
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