A Friday shopping trip at a local warehouse nearly cost a woman $3,000, but thanks to a curious 6-year-old and her mom, she got it back.
On September 22, the woman went shopping at the Habitat for Humanity Estate Warehouse at Clarkesville Mill. While shopping, she lost an envelope containing thousands in cash and her debit card. It was her rent and grocery money for the month. Unable to find the small envelope in the cavernous 4,500-square-foot facility, the woman, known to Habitat workers only by her last name, Concepcion, asked the warehouse staff for help.
Despite everyone’s best efforts, they could not find it.
Concepcion returned to the warehouse the next morning, hoping to find her lost envelope. Fortunately for her, at around the same time, Merinda Oxner stopped by to shop with her two children, Lola and Jaxon.
Unaware of the missing money, Oxner was surprised when 6-year-old Lola found an envelope on the floor partially hidden under a pallet. Her daughter thought it was play money. But when Merinda took a look, she knew it was real: The cash was still bound by bank bands.
Doing the right thing
While someone with less integrity might have been tempted to keep the cash, Merinda not only turned in the money – she turned the situation into a life lesson.
The young mother told her daughter that the money belonged to someone and they needed to return it. The Oxners immediately sought out a Habitat worker in the hopes of finding the rightful owner.
As Oxner taught her children about honesty and integrity, Concepcion continued her frantic search for the cash that would get her through the month.
When the Oxners turned over the envelope to Habitat’s Resource Development Manager, Mary Wilson, Lola was excited.
“Mom, I found somebody’s money. I can’t believe it, Mom!” she exclaimed as they turned over the envelope and its highly prized contents.
Wilson saw the last name ‘Concepcion’ on the debit card and, enlisting the help of an interpreter, asked the woman frantically searching the store for identification to ensure it was hers. Tears of relief streamed down Concepcion’s face when Wilson returned her money and card.
“It was absolutely heartwarming. Honestly, that’s the biggest thing; just to watch the smile on her face means everything,” Wilson tells Now Habersham.
Wilson introduced Concepcion to the Oxners. Merinda says she was “extremely thankful and grateful.” As the relieved woman walked away, Lola looked up at her mother and said, “Mom, that lady was so happy that we gave her money back, that we found her money.”
Not only did little Lola learn a lesson, but Wilson says the incident renewed her faith in humanity.
“To be able to witness that and be a part of watching the community actually care about each other is absolutely outstanding,” she says.
Habitat returned the favor.
When the Oxners came through the checkout line at the end of their shopping trip, Habitat didn’t charge them a dime.
Says Wilson, “We donated whatever was in her cart to her for doing the right thing.”
