A couple’s life savings in old shoe wound up at Goodwill after a marital miscommunication caused the concealed cash stash to wind up in a donations pile.
The life savings in old shoe weren’t the only high-profile, high-value Goodwill donation in recent days, with a rare and valuable Dali etching also sent off to the resale shop for donation .
But while the Dali etching’s owner would be nearly impossible to locate, the couple whose life savings in an old shoe wound up at Goodwill quickly learned of the accidentally generous donation — $3100 in cash money secreted in the old shoe that had been trucked off to the charity outlet.
The life savings in an old shoe could have fallen into someone’s hands never to be seen again at a few turns, and the man’s distraught and weeping wife turned up at Goodwill hoping that someone had located and saved the couple’s only financial cushion.
Luckily for the pair, who have not been named, their life savings in an old shoe remained secure due to Goodwill workers and their, well, good will.
Goodwill manager Richard Lopez says one of the workers on his team spotted the cash and that the shop set it aside for seven days in the event the donation was an accidental one. He explains:
“We have policies here at Goodwil … We want to make sure we’re doing the right thing.”
Clarence Cope, another employee at the Goodwill location, says that the woman was incredibly relieved to find her life savings in the old shoe still at the shop instead of lost to an anonymous customer of the store. Cope says:
“She was so grateful, she was crying … We were so happy that we were able to get the money to the right person.”
While the couple who accidentally donated their life savings in an old shoe got a happy ending, the tale should also serve as a reminder that all Goodwill donations should be checked fully lest you not be as lucky as the Galveston couple.