High school students find $5,000 during roadside pickup, return it to rightful owner

A small business owner said "thank you" at a pizza party for a group of high school students who performed the random act of kindness.

Updated: 3:23 AM EDT May 23, 2023

A small business owner in Waterford, Wisconsin, was reunited with his work portfolio and $5,000 in cash all thanks to a group of high school students who were in the exact right place at the right time. On May 15, Charles Jessup — the owner of Jessup Tree Services — was finishing up a job in East Troy, Wisconsin, when a client started talking to him. "As I was getting in my truck, the gentleman said, 'Hey Charles, one more tree,' and I said, 'OK, great,'" Jessup recalled. "Well, like a dummy, I put my portfolio on the back of my truck saying, 'Well I'm not going to forget this.'" He did forget it, though. Jessup said he drove off, and somewhere along Highway 20 between East Troy and Waterford, he ended up losing his open portfolio containing several important items including $5,000 in cash."My computer, OK, MacBook Air with my life, my business, records," Jessup said. "And then on the inside is where I had tucked the cash."Retracing his steps, Jessup said he found only his laptop. But he also spotted Waterford Union High School's Future Farmers of America students doing their spring roadside clean-up. "Charles pulled over on the side of the road, and he got my attention, because I was kind of toward the back of the group," Luke Hying, a Waterford Union junior and the FFA president, said. "At first, I was kind of a little confused. I'm like, 'What does this guy want?'"In a last-ditch effort, Jessup explained to the students his situation and asked them to call if they tracked down any of his items. "We were like, 'OK, we're probably not going to find it,'" sophomore Morgan Schoof said. "All of a sudden, I was like, 'there's a $50 bill right here.'""We found money after money after money, and then we found his portfolio," Hying added. "Then we found a bunch of papers with the portfolio. It was actually pretty crazy how much we found in that ditch."Jessup said he then received a phone call from Hying. "It went from having a terrible day, you know beating myself up for why would I be so stupid to leave that on the back of my truck, to like, 'Wow, what great kids,'" Jessup said.Monday, Jessup said thank you by hosting a party for the students during their lunch hour. "I really had no idea it would make such a big impact to Charles and so many people would see it as such a big event in the community," Hying said. The one act of kindness is inspiring more acts of kindness.Doc's on the Fox, a Waterford restaurant, donated pizzas for the party. "I wanted to re-enforce that sometimes doing the right things has benefits," Jessup said.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In a Meigs Academic Magnet Middle School classroom in Nashville, Tennessee, a sign reads, "choose kindness."

Teacher Lisa Shaffer is taking the extra effort to have her sixth-graders live those words.

"I feel at the middle school level, kids are just starting to think about who they are and what they believe," she said. "Empathy is the buzzword for my class."

With that comes a concern for people outside these school walls; people without a place to live, without certainty they'll find something to eat.

When Shaffer read about someone hiding money around the city, she told her class about it.

"We decided we wanted to do that," said student Tarin Bowles.

Deciding to take classwork a bit outside the box, Shaffer took $5 bills, and the class began to throw out ideas where in the city they should put them.

"You'd have to put it somewhere where people would need the money," said student Thomas Grant.

"It needs to be someplace in town that people are maybe struggling," added student Cassidy Gambill.

The money went in bags with a note.

"If they need it, please take it and use it for whatever," said Tarin. "If you don't need those $5, set it where you wanna put it until someone else picks it up."

There was one other request:

"If you find it, email us," Tarin said.

What six sites were chosen for the money to go? Shaffer's class said two of the sites are hospitals, another two are by humane associations and the last two are at sites close to where people are experiencing homelessness.

The class just heard one of the bills has been found. It was donated to the Nashville Humane Association.

Shaffer said this is paying it forward. She heard about someone hiding money, and she hopes maybe someone else gets inspired by her class to choose kindness.

"I am encouraging kids to be the best version of themselves, yes," she said.

"It's really cool cause you get to help someone in need, which is always what Ms. Shaffer's trying to do," said Tarin. "She's always trying to help people."

This story was originally reported by Forrest Sanders on newschannel5.com.