A Goodwill employee got a giant reward after she discovered $42,000 hidden in a pile of donations and tracked down the rightful owner.
Andrea Lessing found the bundle of cash while sorting clothing at a donation center in Norman, Oklahoma. The bills were wrapped up in a box with old sweaters, and at first, Lessing did not know what she had stumbled upon, Fox News reported.
"I never expected anything like this to happen to me of all people," she remarked in a statement to the outlet. "To me it was just another normal day at work. I was in the back sorting. I never expected to come across $42,000."
A representative for Goodwill confirmed that this is "the largest cash find reported for our Central Oklahoma Goodwill locations" in its 85-year-history, and one of the largest cash finds of any Goodwill store.
Lessing said because of her belief in “karma” she would never have kept the money for herself. She reported the missing cash to the company, and was able to track down the owner thanks to some documentation that was left behind with the cash.
"I made the right decision, and I did the right thing," Lessing told Fox News.
Lessing’s karma came true. The grateful individual gifted her with $1,000 for the good deed.
"I thought I blessed him, but he turned right around and blessed me,” Lessing said of being rewarded for her good deed. “He restored my faith that there are really good people out there even through this pandemic. We don’t know their situation so it’s better to just be kind."
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Goodwill expressed their gratitude for Lessing embodying the organization's values.
"The actions of Andrea and our Goodwill organization are real life examples of one of our core values: integrity," said Jim Priest, JD, the CEO of Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma.
“Andrea could have kept the money and Goodwill could have kept the money, but integrity is doing the right thing and it's a core value we strive to live out every day."
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