College students Reese Werkhoven, Cally Guasti, and Lara Russo were shopping for secondhand furniture at the Salvation Army when they settled on a big green sofa. One day, the trio felt something crinkling inside the cushions of the couch. It turns out it was bubble wrap envelopes. When the students ripped them out, they discovered hundreds of bills. The total? Over $41,000 in cash.
"You keep counting more and more money, and you get excited. Like Reese was thinking about buying a car for his mom and a boat,” said Lara. Then reality began to sink in. The money didn't really belong to any of them. The friends were tempted by the money, but quickly decided to do the right thing and try and track down the owner.
“The entitlement very quickly went away with finding that notice with her name on it. Because we didn’t earn that money,” Cally said. The trio called Reese's mom, who helped them find out who the fortune belonged to. The sofa was previously owned by an elderly woman, who chose to remain anonymous. She had the money stashed in the couch for years and a family member donated the couch by accident.
“This was her life savings and she actually said something really beautiful like ‘This is my husband looking down on me and this was supposed to happen,'” Cally said.
Needless to say, none of the students regret a single thing.
Please SHARE this story if you're glad Reese, Cally, and Lara really stepped up to the plate!
