Picture of refugee father, daughter selling pens gets worldwide attention

A single tweet about a Syrian father selling pens with his sleeping daughter on the street has gone viral and now the father's life is forever changed. 

Gissur Simonarson tweeted the photo, taken in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday. 

Syrian father selling pens in the streets of #Beirut with his sleeping daughter #Lebanon #Syria pic.twitter.com/KOz4mjW1rd — Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) August 25, 2015

It was re-tweeted more than 3,000 times, with many asking how they could help the man. 

Simonarson got in touch with Carol Malouf from a Lebanese refugee charity, who agreed to track down the man.

#BuyPens Update: We now have @carolmalouf from the charity @leb4refugees helping make contact. Will keep updates on hashtag: #BuyPens — Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) August 26, 2015

 She found the man, identified as Abdul, a single father living with his son, Abdelillah, 9, and daughter, Reem,4.

Meet Abdul and Reem. They are Syrian Refugees living in Beirut, #Lebanon & need your help! http://t.co/LFyCGjosMB pic.twitter.com/QCNXcCEtYJ — #BuyPens (@Buy_Pens) August 27, 2015

Reem came to me, hugged me & asked to take a selfie.What a lovely lively child. A modest home full of love. #BuyPens pic.twitter.com/zikaYG3yg8 — Carol Malouf (@carolmalouf) August 28, 2015

 Simonarson set up a crowdfunding page to help the family, with a goal of $5,000. As of Friday, the fund was already at $62,000.

Hey @Indiegogo, check out our campaign to help a Syrian Refugee start a new life. Feature? http://t.co/oAdxQInxqZ pic.twitter.com/twPWz3SZ1z — Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) August 27, 2015