Sometimes one good deed leads to another.
Just before Christmas, Evelyn Topper popped into a Los Angeles, California, coffee shop to pick up some drinks for herself and her granddaughter. A security video shows her putting her wallet back into her pocket, but when she got home, it was nowhere to be found.
“In this little wallet was everything,”Evelyn said. “Every credit, debit, medicare card. Everything I own. I was distraught.”
She searched for it everywhere, but had no luck until the next day brought amazing news. She received a phone call from a man named Sean Currey, who is homeless. Sean explained that he’d been looking through the coffee shop’s dumpster when he spotted her wallet and fished it out. The cash was gone, but all of her credit and identification cards were still there.
Sean told her that a friend had suggested he use the credit cards himself, but he knew stealing from her would be wrong. After all, he was raised to be honest and do the right thing.
“I did it because I got a heart,” he explained. “That’s the way I was brought up.â€
The grandma was ecstatic about getting her possessions back and thanked Sean repeatedly for his honesty and kindness. Her granddaughter, Mikayla Gounard, was also impressed by his actions, so she started thinking of ways to repay him.
As luck would have it, Mikayla was putting together a celebration for her 12th birthday. Her family arranged a car parade for her and had already asked for cash donations instead of gifts. The young woman was still deciding which charity to donate her birthday money to, and when she heard about Sean and the wallet, she had her answer!
“I wanted to give to somebody who really needed something,”Mikayla said. After her party, her GoFundMe campaign continued to bring in donations, quickly raising over $52,000!
When Sean saw everything, he was moved to tears. “I’m humbled,”he said. “I’m just blessed. It’s hard to express words for it. I’m at a loss. I’m warmed by it, 100 percent.â€
Mikayla hopes her gift will help Sean get back on his feet. No matter what happens, both of them should feel great about their acts of kindness! They’re a wonderful reminder that it always pays to do the right thing – even when no one is watching.
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