George T. McDonald

George Thomas McDonald (April 28, 1944 – January 26, 2021) was an American philanthropist and social worker who was known for being the founder of homeless advocacy group The Doe Fund.

Early life McDonald was born in Spring Lake, New Jersey, on April 28, 1944, to Helen (née Storminger) and John McDonald. His mother was a homemaker and his father was an insurance executive. He grew up in a single parent household with his father leaving before he was born. He spent much of his early years visiting his mother who was in a hospital with tuberculosis. He attended a Catholic elementary and middle school. He would attribute his upbringing to the learnings from priests in the school. He was known to have had ambitions to becoming the President and had subscribed to The Congressional Record as early as 8. It was at this time that he was exposed to the homeless in New York City's parks, subways, and streets. He quit his job in the mid-1980s, and took a vow of poverty. He volunteered at the Coalition for the Homeless, serving the homeless at the Grand Central Terminal. When a homeless acquaintance of his, later named "Mama Doe", died on Christmas day, when she was expelled from camping at the terminal, he set up The Doe Fund to pressure city officials to find homes for the homeless. He was on the board of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from 2017 until his death.

Personal life He had two marriages that ended in divorce before he married Harriet Karr. McDonald met Karr, a screenwriter, who had earlier written a script on April Savino, a nineteen year old homeless woman, at the latter's funeral. McDonald died on January 26, 2021, from cancer at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, New York.