WHITE LAKE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — If you shop at the VC Fresh Marketplace on M-59 in Waterford, Dianne Gordon may have helped you at the deli counter. She is a dedicated worker, who has walked the more than 5-mile round trip down M-59 from work to her home in White Lake since her car broke down about a year ago.
On Jan. 21, she decided to take a break on her way home at a BP gas station.
“On the ground in front of me in front of the door there was a bag and it had some money in it,” Gordon said.
What would you do? Surveillance video shows what Gordon did. She walked up to the clerk, Hailey Nickolopoulos, and said we need to call police.
“Anybody could have just walked away with it,” Nickolopoulos said.
Nickolopoulos says she saw the wedding cards and what turned out to be almost $15,000. She thought of a couple people who had stopped not long before dressed like they just came from a wedding.
“I actually joked around with the police officer that I should get married because that is a lot of money. But I am glad it got returned to the right people for sure,” Nickolopoulos said.
“I was taught if it doesn’t belong to you, you don’t keep it,” Gordon said.
White Lake Township Police Depatment Lt. Matthew Ivory said, “She did the right thing. And it was time to do something good for someone who did something good.”
Ivory says a spouse of a police officer started a GoFundMe page to raise money to get Godon a vehicle. Police shared it and it went viral, raising more than $46,000 as of Friday afternoon.
The Szott M-59 Jeep dealership dropped off a vehicle for her that she says will not only get her to work but will allow her to see people who are so important to her.
“My grandson is 13 and he plays hockey. And my granddaughter is 11 and she does gymnastics and I haven't seen her play or do gymnastics yet. So that's going to be very important that I get to see her do that," Gordon said. "It means the world to me. I miss them so much.”
Gordon says she can’t thank everyone who donated enough. She can’t wait to tell her grandchildren how a wedding celebrating love gave her the chance to do the right thing and ultimately resulted in an outpouring of generosity that changed her life.
“I am floored. I am having a hard time keeping it in. I am just so excited,” she said.
