Someone left more than $5,000 in cash in an envelope tucked into a pair of pajamas donated to Goodwill.
The note, signed with only a first name, said the donor had been saving it awhile and hoped the person who found the cash would spend it wisely, said Bill Wylie, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Upper South Carolina.
Goodwill has placed the money in a safe, waiting to see if someone claims it. If no one does, it will become a donation, Wylie said.
Kelli Owens found the money Tuesday morning while sorting through clothes as part of a job training program. The 21-year-old single mother of three children said she could think of plenty of ways to spend the cash. Instead, she took it straight to her supervisor, then returned to finish the final six hours of her shift.
“I’m an honest person,” Owens said. “I was brought up that way. I’m always going to be that way.”
Wylie isn’t giving out the name or the exact amount of cash so that he’ll have a way of identifying the person.
Goodwill also plans to honor the honesty of Owens, who lives with her children, Isaiah, 4; Jonathan, 3; and Emily, 11 months; as well as her mother and two younger sisters.
The organization will give her a few gift certificates and throw her a party, Wylie said.
“It’s really nice to have somebody that’s honest working for you,” he said. “We’re very proud of her.”