Gift or Accident? Sunnyside Goodwill Discovers Ten Thousand Dollars in Shoebox

Goodwill stores are known as a place to drop off unwanted clothes or to make a donation.

However, with just a few days before Christmas workers at the Sunnyside store were shocked to find what someone dropped off.

"I took the shoes out of the box and in that box was the large sum of money,” said manager, Chella Cardenas. Ten thousand dollars in cash was found. A lot of money to stumble upon. Especially for a charity that helps others by selling goods for pennies.

Now, the search is on to find out: was it a gift or an accident?

"I think it's wonderful for them to be so honest about something like because maybe somebody actually did put it in,” said customer Anna Salinas.

"It's just the time of the season for it, you know,” Dave Gerhauser said. “The random acts of kindness. People going up and doing things for others. It's just a really wonderful and beautiful thing."

The Goodwill does accept donations throughout the year, but they say this is the largest amount they've ever received. And they’ve never received a donation in a shoe box.

Chella says she thinks it was an accident. However, in the back of her mind she hopes it was somebody's good intention to help others.

"It could happen,” Chella said. “There's a lot of that going around right now."

If no one claims the cash, Goodwill plans to use it in their mission to help others.

"You know if somebody claims it that's great. But if somebody don't, then I believe that money's going to go a long ways to helping families out there in need,” Dave said.

Where the money came from and where it is going…is still to be determined.

Anyone who plans to claim the cash will have to properly identify the box, type of shoes and exact amount of cash.