Thrift store clerk returns thousands of dollars left in donated coat

An Indiana man who donated clothes to an Indiana thrift store nearly lost several thousand dollars he left in the pocket of a jacket but was saved by the clerk who made the discovery.

Jennifer Kimes was going through items that had recently been dropped off at Plato’s Closet in Valparaiso when she found a wad of cash.

“Sometimes you find gum, or a picture, or a grocery list,” Kimes told ABC Chicago station WLS.

Kimes said the cash made her nervous at first so she put it in the register and called her boss, Tammy Wendland.

“I’m saying to her, ‘What did you say? What did you say?’” Wendland said. “And [she said], ‘A very large sum of money.’”

Wendland got in touch with the coat’s former owner who said he had forgotten about hiding the money in the pocket.

“He was extremely grateful,” Wendland said. “Just extremely, overwhelmingly grateful.”

Both women said they were happy to help and were proud of the decision they made.

“It’s just about integrity," Kimes said. "So when you work with things like this, you just have to make sure that you’re honest and you do the right thing.”

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