Norman, Oklahoma – Andrea Lessing had seen many one-time donations during her time as an employee of Goodwill (a donation site) in Oklahoma, but never anything as valuable as $ 42,000 in cash.
Lessing was organizing a donation pile at Goodwill headquarters in Norman when he sensed something strange between two sweaters. When he unwrapped them, he discovered that what he suspected were books were actually wads of cash.
“The first thing I thought was that it was false. We have seen sporadic donations of $ 5 and $ 20, but I have never seen so much money in my life, ”Lessing said in an interview.
Lessing did not hesitate to report the find of the money and the Goodwill charity was able to trace the owner of the money with the help of the donation documentation. Lessing has a 6-year-old daughter, and it’s critical to her that her daughter recognize the importance of honesty.
Frank Holland, the Goodwill Vice President for Donated Goods, gave Lessing the cash reward.
“With every decision I make, I have to think about whether I want my daughter to follow in my footsteps,” Lessing said. “I want her to know that kindness, integrity, and honesty can lead you in life.”
His good deed was rewarded: The owner of the lost money asked Goodwill to give Lessing $ 1,000 of the money. Lessing said the owner’s generosity “took a lot of weight off” him.
“With everything that has happened in the last year and a half, this meant more than anyone could imagine,” Lessing said. “I did not return the money expecting a reward or hoping to be on the news, I just think that if you do something good, in the end it will be paid back. So it was”.
Goodwill was also impressed by Lessing’s integrity, saying it is one of the values they pursue as a company.
“Andrea demonstrated integrity when she returned the money, and Goodwill demonstrated her integrity as an organization by tracking the donor so that we could return the money,” Jim Priest, CEO of Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma, wrote in a statement to Citizen Free Press. “Andrea could have kept the money and Goodwill could have kept the money, but integrity means doing the right thing and that is a core value that we strive to put into practice every day.”
According to a Goodwill representative, the cash find represents the largest amount of money found in Goodwill donations in Oklahoma in its 85-year history, and is one of the organization’s largest finds in the world.
“I never expected to find $ 42,000. I made the right decision and I did the right thing, ”Lessing said in a statement. “I have to know how I feel about myself and I feel like I made the right decision by doing the right thing.”