Woman went to KFC for lunch and returned with $543 cash in her order—she knew she had to call non-emergency line
It’s easy to perform good deeds when others are watching. However, a person’s integrity is judged when no one is monitoring them but they still choose the right path. The City of Jackson Police Department shared a post on Facebook expressing their heartfelt gratitude to a woman named Joann Oliver who did the right thing after stumbling upon something unusual in her KFC order.
The woman had gone to a KFC outlet to get her lunch during her break from work, as per TODAY. She picked up her meal and drove back to work but when she opened her package in the office, she was stunned. The meal was wrapped in foil and as soon as she opened it, she showed the package to her colleague. “My co-worker says, ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’ and I turned the bag around to show her. And it was full of money. She started taking pictures. And so I put the sandwich down,” Oliver recalled. She counted the cash and discovered that it was surely over $500. She immediately knew what she had to do on her part.
“And then when my coworker says ‘Shopping!’ I said, 'No, I can’t keep this, it ain’t mine,'" Oliver said. The woman was so worried about the stack of money. She stated that she didn’t “want anything to do with the money.” She even slid the package aside and waited till she was clear on what was to be done. She soon contacted the non-emergency contact for the police who later intervened. The officer counted the money to be $543.10. The officer got to work and investigated and the money was reported to be the outlet’s day’s deposit. It somehow accidentally got placed into the woman’s package.
The staff would have suffered a massive loss had Oliver not reported the money out of her thoughtful stature. The manager could have lost their job. The woman, however, noted that she just did her job as a human. She added that all she wanted was her sandwich. “Honestly, that day, I was so hungry, because I probably hadn’t eaten the day before. But I remember telling people, 'I’m hungry. I just want my sandwich!'" she recounted. She mentioned that she’d spend roughly the same amount on monthly groceries alone. However, it was more about morale than financial help for her. “I was raised to know that if it’s not yours, you don’t keep it. It’s one of the main things that I’ve been saying ever since. It was not mine to keep!” she confidently explained.
The department thanked Oliver for her work. “Character and integrity are doing the right thing when no one is looking! Not only did Mrs. Oliver do the right thing but she saved the manager's job. Mrs. Oliver, thank you for reminding us that we have amazing citizens in Jackson and it's people like you that make us great!” As a token of appreciation, KFC set up a GoFundMe for Oliver to help care for her ill husband who has cancer and has suffered two strokes. Having raised over $5,000, it just proves that honesty is always rewarded heavily.