12-Year-Old Girl Raises Over $50K For Homeless Man After He Returned Grandmother’s Lost Wallet

Jan 17, 2021 by apost team

Just a few weeks before Christmas 2020, one 12-year-old girl had her faith in humanity restored when Sean Currey, a homeless man, returned her grandmother's wallet. Touched by his selfless action, Mikayla Gounard from San Rafael, California decided to pay it forward by starting an online fundraiser to help Curry get back on his feet. In just one month, Gounard has raised over $50,000. 

On December 10, Sean Currey was scrounging for food behind a San Rafael, California, coffee shop, searching nearby trash receptacles and boxes. Having been in this situation many times, he knew that trash around restaurants, supermarkets, and delis could provide him with enough food for a meal. On that particular day, Currey found more than what he was looking for; while searching behind a coffee shop, he spotted a floral-patterned wallet. Opening it, he found it belonged to 80-year-old Evelyn Topper of nearby Mill Valley. While there was no money, there were several credit and debit cards inside.

The Washington Post reports that Currey initially intended to use the credit cards he found in the wallet. But then, the 57-year-old man, who has repeatedly slipped in and out of homelessness, thought better of it. 

"Anybody in the position of being homeless and cold and tired and hungry, if they found a credit card, they're going to think about it. But whether you're going to act on it is two different things," he said. 

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It didn't take long for Currey to make his choice. "I would rather be cold and hungry and know that I did the right thing," he says. So, he called the number he found in the wallet and arranged a time to have Topper pick it up. 

 Evelyn Topper was out Christmas shopping with Gounard when she decided to buy drinks at Kamson Coffee in San Rafael. She purchased a boba tea and a latte for herself and her granddaughter, reports KNTV, a local NBC affiliate. She must have lost her wallet somewhere near the coffee shop. Security footage seems to show that Evelyn paid for the drinks as normal. She then put her purse in an unzipped jacket pocket. As far as anyone can guess, it then fell out of the pocket onto the nearby street. According to KNTV, she didn't even know the wallet was missing until she arrived at the home and tried to retrieve it.

Topper told the Washington Post, "I called the coffee shop immediately. I tore apart my car and my house. I knew it must have dropped somewhere in the parking lot." 

She went on to tell KNTV, "In this little wallet was everything. Every credit, debit, Medicare card. Everything I own. I was distraught." 

She was preparing to call and cancel her cards and get replacements when Evelyn's phone rang, with a caller ID showing a number she didn't recognize. On the other end was Sean Currey calling to say he had found her wallet and wanted to return it.

"I started screaming. I couldn't believe it," Topper said.

A few days later, Topper's granddaughter, Mikayla Gounard, heard the heartwarming story. She decided she wanted to help the homeless man who had been so kind and helpful to her grandma. With her drive-by 12th birthday party approaching, she had already been planning to ask for charity donations instead of gifts. That's when Gounard and her mother approached Currey to ask if he would be ok with them raising money for him. He accepted.

On her birthday, people drove past her home, stopping to give best wishes, presents, and, most importantly, donations. She sat there all day at a decked-out table with balloons, a bowl for money, and a picture her mother had taken of Sean Currey.

At the end of this unusual party, she had raised $475 for Currey. The Washington Post reports that she and her mother then went to drop off the money at the same parking lot where Currey had returned Topper's wallet. They found the Chevy Tahoe and were able to track Currey down from there. When they gave him the money, Gounard told the Washington Post, 

"I got to see him smile, and it made me really happy." In the same article, Currey added, "I was just so touched. It was refreshing knowing that people her age want to help."

But Currey couldn't have known the good intentions would not end there.

Gounard's mother, Vanessa Topper, helped Gounard set up a GoFundMe page for Currey. Vanessa wrote on the page, "What began with a lost wallet, progressed into Mikayla's drive-by birthday fundraiser, and has now seeded a friendship with the entire family. This isn't about charity. It's about Compassion, the highest form of LOVE."

But this simple gesture of thanks soon ballooned into something much bigger; To date, she has received a staggering amount –– over $50,000.

The fundraiser couldn't come at a better time. According to the Washington Post, Currey had been struggling with homelessness for roughly five years. In recent months, he had gone through his most prolonged bout without a roof on his head, thanks in part to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He explained that at the beginning of 2020, he was hospitalized with pneumonia. Upon his discharge, Currey stayed in governmental housing for four months, after which he had no choice but to live in his car. 

"I'm working as much as I can with the pandemic, doing handyman stuff where I can. But it's hard without having a home base," he explained. "Not having shelter is not a good feeling at all."

On January 13, Gounard's mom Venessa Topper updated the donators, saying that Currey was staying at a local hotel with a "kitchenette and hot shower." The funds were enough to secure Currey a Camper Trailer while searching for a more long-term housing solution. 

She further announced that they are now partnering with Currey "to create a sustainable row of tiny houses for the San Rafael homeless community at large, using his design and construction experience."

"[They are] an unlikely pair, whose lives became intertwined from one act of honesty and another of generosity," the doting mom continues on the GoFundMe page. "Let's learn from our children to plant a seed and watch it grow..." Donations have continued to come in, recently reaching $50,000 and beyond. 

With so much help coming from so many people, Currey says he "feels very blessed," according to a YouTube video update.

In the video, he says, "Who knew that returning a wallet to someone I didn't know would turn into something that is gonna spark something really good? I believe I have a good heart," he added. "Maybe, if I keep doing the right thing, more people will too, and it will change the world, in a small way, for the better."

It seems that Currey is right, not just about himself but about those around him as well.

Afterward, when Currey, Mikayla, and Vanessa talked, he told them that he wanted to pay that kindness forward by helping other homeless people in the San Rafael area. The GoFundMe page was changed, and now states that they are partnering with Currey "to create a sustainable row of tiny houses for the San Rafael homeless community at large, using his design and construction experience."

Donations have continued to come in, and it is heartening to see that so many people are inspired by the simple act of kindness that sent a ripple effect across this man's life. With so much help coming from so many people, Currey says he "feels very blessed," according to a YouTube video update.

Currey concludes by telling People Magazine, "I felt very humbled and special that they would go out of their way to do that for me." He could have kept the contents of Evelyn Topper's wallet, but he gave them back. In return, he got far more than he could have imagined.

Does this story warm your heart during this cold winter? Have you ever been the recipient of similar kindness? Do you have your own story of gratitude and selflessness? Tell us your stories about it in the comments.