Goodwill donor in Texas accidentally leaves $5,000 in jacket, gets it back weeks later

TX – The donor meant to be generous, but not that generous.

A man in Texas has been reunited with an envelope containing $5,000 after his wife accidentally donated the cash to Goodwill inside the pocket of an old jacket.

The man first realized their mistake in early February, according to Rhonda Davis, the store manager of the Goodwill in Hurst.

“About three weeks ago, we had a customer that had come in and said his wife had accidentally donated $5,000 in cash,” Davis said, recounting the story in a video shared Goodwill’s website. “We roughly get donated anywhere from 50 to 2300 donations a day, so when the customer had come in, I explained to him that we had to go and sort through bag-per-bag.”

Weeks later, the sorters still hadn’t found the money. Icy weather even forced the store to close for a few days, hampering their efforts. But upon returning to work last week, employee Maqayla DeLaPena ran up to the front of the store with the envelope in hand.

“Rhonda, Rhonda… I found it,” DeLaPena said, according to Davis.

The Goodwill team in Hurst later returned the cash to the donors, but DeLaPena was also rewarded with a bonus, as well as a commendation.

“Thank you, Makayla, for your incredible integrity,” said Terry Willet, the Goodwill retail director of Fort Worth, upon awarding DeLaPena with the Goodwill Medal of Integrity. “And thank you for letting Goodwill stand out, as well as yourself.”

“I feel proud of myself,” DeLaPena said in response, adding that she felt honored to be recognized for her honesty.

“It’s employees like Maqayla that make Goodwill great!” said Rosemary Cruz, vice president of donated goods and retail for Goodwill Industries of Fort Worth. “Donated goods are sold in our stores to support Goodwill’s mission of providing jobs and job training to people with disabilities and other barriers to employment.

“We are grateful for all donations, but please make sure you check your pockets before you drop them off!”