Reese, Cally, and Lara are three students who were looking for a couch that they could put in their New York apartment. Most of the couches they found were too big for their small living room, but they finally found the perfect one at the Salvation Army. Though it was old, smelly, and not the most aesthetically pleasing couch, it was also only $20, so they decided to buy it.

Months later, the trio was sitting on the couch together watching a movie when they found a strange envelope in the cushions. When they opened it, they were stunned to find that it contained $700! As they dug around the couch more, they found other envelops as well, and they ended up finding a total of $40,000 in cash!

The three friends also noticed a woman’s name on the envelope, so they grabbed their phone book to try and find her. When they finally found a match, they called her and the woman informed them that the cash had been the life savings of her and her husband, who had sadly passed away.

After his death, the woman had back surgery and started sleeping on the couch at night. As a surprise for her mother, the woman’s daughter had bought her a new bed and taken the couch to the Salvation Army, having no idea that there were thousands of dollars hidden inside!

The woman was so touched that the roommates had reached out to her instead of keeping the cash for themselves that she gave them $1,000 as a thank you.

We’re sure it was tempting for these cash-strapped students to take all the cash for themselves, but we’re proud of them for doing the right thing and giving it back. This gives us hope for the next generation of young people in this country!

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