Woman finds $2,000 at Value Village, returns it

By George Mathis

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

This just in: there are still good people in the world.

Courtesy of Lance Letson Ronald and Imogene Crowder pose with Yekaterina Shneyderova, who returned $2,000 to the couple, and Value Village District Manager Lance Letson.

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A woman who found $2,000 in a thrift store item turned it in and was rewarded for her good deeds, said Value Village District Manager Lance Letson.

Letson said the shopper, Yekaterina Shneyderova, 22, was looking at a cash box for sale at his Roswell store Friday when she opened it and found the dough, all in $100 bills. The box also contained financial records of a Marietta couple.

Shneyderova, a Kennesaw State student, said as soon she saw the cash she knew she had to return it to the rightful owner.

"I saw the money and the envelope with an address and I thought it might be someone's life savings. I couldn't keep it, I couldn't do that," she said.

Shneyderova showed her find to Letson, who drove the cache to the address on the envelope.

The original owners of the cash box, Ronald and Imogene Crowder, said it had mistakenly been donated Tuesday to American Kidney Services, a charitable organization working with Value Village.

Saturday, Letson arranged a meeting between Shneyderova and the Crowders at the Roswell store. The Crowders gave Shneyderova a $200 reward for her good deed along with the cash box.

Letson refused to take any cash for his role.

"Seeing the smiles on their faces was reward enough," he said.