A mysterious good Samaritan has secretly dropped a gold coin worth $1,200 into a Salvation Army kettle in Springfield, Ohio, for the fifth consecutive year.
The anonymous donor dropped a gold South African Krugerrand wrapped in a $100 bill into a red Salvation Army donation bucket during Thanksgiving weekend, the Springfield News-Sun reported.
“This is becoming a tradition now in Clark County to find the gold coin. Each Thanksgiving weekend it happens and we don’t know who it is,” said Ryan Ray, development director of the Springfield Salvation Army.
Ray said the volunteers are eager to find the coin each year.
“We look forward to it not only because it helps us and gives us a boost, but it also inspires other people to give in compassionate and unique ways,” Ray said. “Often this triggers other means of giving and when you can do that in the community, you can show kids how to give in their own way.”
Ray said the money that comes from the gold coin and other donations to the Red Kettle help operate homeless shelters, work with at-risk youth, give food and clothing to those in need, and give camp opportunities for kids with disabilities.
Ray also said the Salvation Army does not want to track down the mysterious donor, but he said he does have a message to the person who donates so generously every year.
“To the gold coin bandit, I just want to say thank you on the behalf of the Salvation Army and on the behalf of the community for doing something so amazingly unique and compassionate,” Ray said. “I’m guessing you are the type of person that is doing other amazing things in the community and it doesn’t just stop here. We love you and the community loves you.”
This is not the only time this year the Salvation Army has received a gold coin donation worth an excess of a thousand dollars during Thanksgiving weekend.
On Black Friday, the organization’s branch in Shelby, North Carolina, received a 1915 Austrian 100 Corona gold piece in a kettle worth $1,500, WSOC reported.