Monday, December 1, 2008

Bulgarian Samaritan inspires American Samaritan


As I noted in a previous post (written mostly as an excuse to lament my prior loss of a friendship with a generous Bulgarian), an exceedingly honest Bulgarian immigrant, Teodora Petrova, working her first day on her first job in the U.S. at the Goodwill Store in Glen Carbon, Ill., found $7,500 in a shoebox and turned it over to the manager, who (after some sleuth work) returned the cash to the donor of the shoes (and inadvertent donor of the doneros).

Now, mostly as an excuse to invite people to listen to the great Bulgarian music show archived from Saturday (Nov. 30) on kdhx.org, I share some good news - that one good return, in this event, has inspired another.

On Wednesday, just before the Thanksgiving holiday, an envelope from out of state bearing an anonymous check for $7,500 - the same amount our Bulgarian Samaritan found and didn't pocket - came to the Glen Carbon Goodwill. The check came from a CPA firm with no letter or information enclosed other than it was to be contributed to the local Goodwill.

The delivery follows international attention of the story of Teodora's good deed. "Company executives," we are told in a well-written press release, "are stunned by the gift and touched by the intent. Everyone is affected by the generosity of this unknown benefactor."

Ain't that America? Or Bulgaria? Or Bulgaria-America? For you and me? Something to see, baby?
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The illustration of this online tale of inspiration is an image of Bulgarians celebrating the New Year dressed in animal costumes in the village of Lesnovo from Inspiration Online.

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