WYANDOTTE, Mich. (WXYZ) — In Wyandotte, a young man busy with work still made the time to return a wallet full of personal information and cash he found in the middle of the street to a grateful family who appreciated the kind gesture.
When Michelle Johnson looked through her surveillance video Monday and saw a stranger standing on her porch, she didn’t know who it was or what they wanted.
"And he had held up a wallet into our camera," Johnson said.
Johnson then later went onto her porch to find a wallet hidden behind some decor, so no one else would take it. She quickly realized 26-year-old Donnie Hanson was returning her son’s missing wallet. Her 25-year-old son had just worked the entire weekend and made nearly $100 dollars in cash tips.
"He works down at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and made tips on Sunday, I believe it was, and that was all of the tips he had made," she said.
Donnie Hanson is a busy realtor who was running errands that Monday afternoon and couldn't believe he found an open wallet in the street.
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"I was on 17th Street, seen it in the middle of the road, and all I was thinking was, 'Oh, someone had a great St. Patrick's Day; I can’t believe this was just lying in the middle of the road,'" Hanson said with a smile. "I just found the ID, and I was like, you know what, yup, gotta get this back.”
Hanson says he’s lost his wallet before, and no one ever returned it to him. He wanted to do for Johnson and her family what no one ever did for him.
It’s a gesture the family takes to heart.
"I almost cried; I know that sounds silly, but it was nice," Johnson added. “It makes you feel good and it makes people, our family included, we just want to pay it forward.”
Johnson explains that her son is a busy student at the University of Michigan - Dearborn and was in town Monday filling up his car with gas and then running to a friend’s house when his wallet must’ve fallen out of his pocket.
He now has his wallet back with all the cash and cards inside, and Johnson, who’s an elementary school teacher, says many lessons can be learned from what Hanson did that day.
“You might not realize what something small does for someone else, but even the smallest act of kindness goes a long way," Johnson said.
