It's not every day a bank envelope full of money is left on the ground.
Inside, $60 in cash and an elderly woman's Texas ID card.
Jorge Mata couldn't believe she dropped it Tuesday in the parking lot of a San Benito restaurant.
"It reminded me of my mom and I said well if it was my mom I would have wanted somebody to return the envelope to my mom as well.... So I went to look for the lady," he explained.
Jorge checked first with the staff at Vicky's, the restaurant where the envelope was found outside.
Then he drove to the address listed on the ID.
"But it took me into an empty lot," Jorge said.
With nothing but dead ends, he turned to social media.
The Brownsville man posted a picture of Zeferina Ramirez's ID with her personal information blocked out and listed his phone number to see if anyone recognized her.
"I thought I was going to get a hit pretty soon, but I had to post it in different groups and stuff," he explained. "So after a while some other gentleman posted on his page and that's when it took off."
Joe De Leon remembers getting the call about his grandmother.
"Yesterday morning, I was just getting ready for work and one of my aunt's called me and said, 'Joe there's a picture of your grandma on Facebook,'" he said.
Zeferina says she didn't even realize that the envelope was missing until her grandson inquired about it.
"When I found out it was gone, I though what can I do, it was terrible," she explained.
That's because the 78-year-old lives on a fixed income.
He still remembers the look on the her face when she got her property back on Wednesday.
"I saw the lady smile and it felt good inside to see the lady the smile," he recalled.
"How did you feel when you finally got the chance to meet the man that returned what was yours?" Action 4's Ryan Wolf asked Zeferina.
"It felt amazing… he was such a genuinely nice man," she answered.
Jorge turned down a reward from her.
Karen Gonzalez with GEF Financial says that makes him even more deserving of the Pay it 4Ward prize.
She surprised him in the parking lot at Vicky's.
"You did the right thing," Karen told him as a Pay it 4Ward partner. "You have set an amazing example for others and because of that GEF Financial would like to reward you. So on behalf of Action 4 News and the Pay it 4Ward program, I would like to give you $400."
Jorge couldn't believe his eyes.
"Wow!" he uttered over and over. "Thank you. This is... Wow. I'm actually shaking. This is great."
Zeferina couldn't hold back her tears.
She turned to Jorge and gave him a hug.
Zeferina says he restored her faith in humanity.
No comments:
Post a Comment