Good Samaritan Helps Save Christmas For Minn. Family

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It was Thanksgiving night when Allison Wicklund and her husband, Dan, were on the hunt for a new TV at a Walmart in Cambridge.

They were hoping for an early Black Friday deal, but then Allison spotted something.

"I noticed there was an envelope laying on the ground," Allison said.

She opened the envelope and found cash, but there was no name or contact info. She turned it in to a store employee.

"I said, 'Just kind of keep me updated with what happens, I'd really like to know if it gets back to the family,'" Allison said.

She went on Facebook the next morning, where she saw a post in a local garage sale group. A woman wrote that her husband "dropped an envelope with a name on it and cash in it….we would just like to have it back to afford presents for our family members."

Allison held back tears as she described seeing the post.

"I was pretty thankful that they got it back," Allison said. "That I knew they were going to get it back because she was pretty desperate."

Allison commented on the post that she had found the envelope and turned it in. Her comment was "liked" hundreds of times and strangers immediately responded.

"Somebody from Elk River offered her a Christmas tree," Dan said. "Knowing my wife, that's not how she is. She does it out of the kindness of her heart and doesn't expect anything."

Allison says she never thought twice about turning in the money. A mother herself, she said it was a reminder of what Christmas is all about.

"Just knowing that they're still going to have Christmas," Allison said.

She did not want to reveal exactly how much money was in the envelope out of respect for the family, but did say it was their savings for the holidays.

Allison says she and Dan used the experience to teach their children about always doing the right thing.