BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A man who found $700 in an envelope six months ago while taking a walk in Bloomfield Township is putting the money toward a good cause after nobody came forward to claim it.
Joe Hodges said he was taking a walk one rainy September morning when he found an envelope just feet away from his door.
“I was just walking down the street and happened to look down, and the money was in the water,” Hodges said.
Inside was $700 that would have instantly made anyone’s day, but Hodges didn’t want the mistake to ruin someone else’s.
“I figured, ‘Well, must belong to somebody,’ and I took it up to the police station,” Hodges said.
Six months passed without anyone claiming the money. This week, instead of becoming $700 richer, Hodges added $300 of his own money to make an even $1,000 donation to a good cause.
“He immediately -- when we returned the money to him -- he took it, (and said), ‘Donate this to the fund, and hold on, here’s an additional $300. We’ll make it an even $1,000,’” said Lt. Paul Schwab, of the Bloomfield Township Police Department.
That money is going toward helping an officer at the Oakland Police Academy with a scholarship in the name of Gary Davis -- an officer killed in the line of duty 16 years ago.
“He was a great officer,” Schwab said. “Everybody that heard about the story here -- we all said we have no doubt Gary was looking down on this guy. You just don’t come across people like that every day.”
“Giving back is the best thing that you can do,” Hodges said.
Hodges has several family ties to police officers, including a few who have worked in Detroit. He didn’t contact Local 4 for recognition about the act.