The news these days is often depressing at worst and frustrating at best. It’s easy to get caught up in the spin cycle and let it get us down.
Never fear… The News Blender has you covered. Once a week, we feature Something Good and, in return, all you have to do is tell us something good that has happened to you this week, something you are thankful for, a joke, a cute animal story, an inspiring tale of heroics, a Random Act of Kindness… SOMETHING good.
This week we have a story of a good citizen, down on his luck, putting others ahead of himself.
In Sumner, Washington, a little town outside of Seattle, Kevin Booth is a familiar and friendly face. He has lived in the area for 19 years, but has been homeless for the last seven years, according to The News Tribune.
About three months ago, Kevin showed up early in the morning on the doorstep of the Sumner Community Food Bank to wait for them to open and fill the outdoor bread box. While he was waiting, he noticed a bag on the ground. Kevin opened the bag and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.
Booth told the Tribune, “Of course I sniffed it to see if it was real.” Kevin then had to decide whether to take the bag with money in it and leave or stay and hand it over to the food bank. It was a hard decision, he said, but he stayed, waiting 20 minutes until a volunteer arrived to open the food bank and handed her the bag.
Anita Miller, the food bank’s director, says Kevin doesn’t steal, so he made the decision to not take the money because it wasn’t his.
The bag turned out to contain $17,000. The police were called and verified the money was real. They watched surveillance footage but could not determine who left the money. The footage did show who picked it up and waited for the food bank to open. Kevin says the cops stopped him later and told him how much money was in the bag. “I almost fainted,” he said.
State law requires found money be kept 90 days, so when the time was up and no one claimed it, the money was handed over to the grateful staff at the food bank. The food bank plans on using the funds to expand their building so they can better serve the homeless and families in need.
They have not forgotten who made that possible, however. Kevin has been given part of the money in gift cards to his favorite store, Fred Meyer. He also was given a citizen’s citation by the Sumner police department.
During the presentation, Police Chief Brad Moericke said that not everyone would be as honest as Booth was. Kevin says he knows the food bank will put the money to good use and that he knew that giving the money to the food bank would help more people than just himself.
The recognition by the town is appreciated by Kevin but a resident of Sumner has gone a step further to reward his honesty and started a GoFundMe for Kevin. In nine days, they have reached nearly $14,000 of the $17,000 goal.
Anita Miller said Kevin’s selfless action restored her faith in humanity. Of his choice to turn over the money, Kevin simply said, “There are a lot of people who would have taken it. I’m just not that person.”
Kevin’s honesty has touched the Sumner community and beyond, showing that people can be selfless and good to one another. His simple act of decency is creating ripples of caring, for himself and for others. That is Something Good to warm your heart in this Christmas season.
Now it’s your turn… Tell me Something Good.
