Walmart shopper impresses with character after finding $500 and bringing it back to owner

Editor:

While ringing the Salvation Army bell last week in front of Walmart, I had a deeply encouraging experience.

An incredulous young man approached me holding a wad of hundred-dollar bills enclosed in a piece of paper and a rubber band. The paper was labeled $1,000. He must have thought an old geezer would know what to do with it!

After getting over the thrill of having my faith in people vindicated—if only anecdotally—I suggested we visit customer service. On the way, we passed Medina Savings and Loan (Generations Bank), the likely place from which the money had been procured.

To make a long story shorter, the young man who had unintentionally dropped the money roughly fifteen feet from where the Salvation Army kettle was located. He had evidently been asked to do some Christmas shopping for the family by an older relative.

Not twenty minutes after we checked with a very helpful woman at customer service, the “twenty something” guy who had dropped the money rushed up to me as if I had found and returned what remained of the $1,000. While his heart appeared to be visibly pulsating through his shirt, he thanked me as passionately as someone might have. He insisted on giving me a hug as well.

To the “twenty something” who deserves the credit for returning the $500 that remained, I offer this for what it may be worth. Though I never got your name—and I may be wrong—you have something money cannot buy. That thing is character. Whoever you are, and regardless of where it originated, that character is something that is likely to serve you quite well going forward.

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent

Albion