Social media post helps return nearly $2K to neighbor

Lothian woman praised online for her efforts

Less than 24 hours after she madea plea on Facebook in search of someone who lost nearly $2,000 in cash in south county Sunday night, Lothian resident Nicole Penkert reunited the money with its rightful owner.

Penkert was walking her dog near where she lives along Little Road Sunday evening when she discovered a stack of bills lying in a ditch. She rushed home and posted on the Facebook group Lothian Residents, which has about 2,200 members, asking if anyone had lost “a large amount of cash.”

“I’m really hoping someone will realize this money was theirs because if I lost this amount of cash, Iwould be devastated, especially around the holidays,” she wrote.

The next morning, Penkert received a knock at her door from a neighbor who told her they found the money’s owner, she said. In a follow-up post to the group Monday evening, Penkert announced that $1,875 had been returned to “an elderly gentleman” who had lost it.

“Oh my god, it feels fantastic; it’s not even a little bit good, it’s overwhelmingly fantastic,” Penkert said in an interview Wednesday. “I just I can’t even put into words how good I feel about it.”

The post, which garnered more than 100 comments, asked the owner to say how much they lost to avoid being scammed.

“He cried when I met him at the Post Office this morning,” she wrote, marveling that the man knew not only the exact amount he had lost but also the denomination of each bill and even recalled something scribbled on a $10note, too. She said shed eclined a $5 reward the man offered.

A neighbor informed the man of the social media post as he does not have a computer or a cell phone, she said. She asked that other identifying information be left out to respect the man’s privacy.

More than 120 people commented, praising her for her kindness and honesty.

“There ARE still good, honest people in this world. This is proof,” one person wrote.

Another wrote, “This is the best thing I’ve read in a long time. Fills my heart right up. You’re a good egg.”

Penkert chalked the episode up to the power of social media and divine intervention.

“I feel so vindicated. And I feel — not special — but I feel like it was what I was supposed to do,” she said. “It was my job as a human being, and it was my job to be compassionate toward another’s [misfortunes].”