Goodwill employee finds $2,600 inside donated clothes

GLEN CARBON, IL (KTVI) – It happened again: a Goodwill employee discovered an accidental donation of thousands of dollars while sifting through donated clothes.

"I've been with Goodwill for over 9 years, and you just never know what you're doing to find," says Glen Carbon Goodwill Store Manager Cissy Altevogt. In this case, an employee found $2,600 in cash inside a piece of donated clothing.

More details about Monday afternoon's discovery can't be released, to make sure the cash gets back to its rightful owner. Altevogt says they've already narrowed it down to three or four people, based on when it was donated and video surveillance.

Meanwhile, this Glen Carbon Goodwill is no stranger to accidental, high-dollar donations. "The first one was $7,500 in cash, the second one was $2,600 also," says Altevogt.

In both situations, the money was returned, but Altevogt says this is a good opportunity to remind people to slow down and check each item before tossing it into the donation bin: "You get in a hurry, you put something somewhere and all of a sudden you donate it."

There's another reason for these accidental donations, though. Altevogt continues, "When we found the $7,500 actually, it was in an envelope, and the lady had passed. So she had stashed the money in a shoebox."

That's why, if you do stash money, let someone know, before it's too late.

"Let a family member or someone they trust know, so that it doesn't get accidentally donated. But if it does, and it comes to the Glen Carbon-Edwardsville Goodwill, we will make sure that it gets back to the rightful owner, as proven two other times and soon to be three," says the store manager.

Within the past two years, $20,000 worth of accidental donations have been made to Goodwill. If you truly believe this $2,600 is yours, you can call Goodwill at 314-982-8802.

If the rightful owner isn't found within 30 days, the money will benefit Goodwill programs.

Here is the latest: MERS Goodwill has narrowed down more of the details through its video surveillance.
• The organization can say that the donation appears to have been made between 3:45 and 4:00 p.m. on Monday, March 3.
• The drop-off donation also appears to have come from one of either a black SUV or a white SUV.
• Additionally, the cash donation was found in an article of clothing that MERS Goodwill employees were sorting through.
• Approximately 15 people have called to claim the money, but no one has matched the description of the donation thus far.