Allie Rogoff with $10,000 in crisp $100 bills discovered in a box of crackers.

This is old news, but I thought it was worth posting in case any of you haven’t heard about it.

The Rogoffs found $10,000 cash in a box of Annie’s Homegrown Sour Cream and Onion Cheddar Bunnies, which Mrs. Rogoff bought from a Whole Foods supermarket.  The family notified the police, who at first thought the money was part of a drug drop.  But it turned out that the money really belonged to a woman who had hidden her life-savings in the cracker box because she thought it would be safer there than in a bank, given the recent turmoil in the banking industry.  But then the woman returned the crackers, forgetting that she had stored her life-savings there.  Normally, the crackers should’ve gone to a composting facility since that’s where all returned food goes.  But due to some sort of mix-up in the store, the crackers ended up getting restocked on the shelves, where they were picked up by Mrs. Rogoff.

So the money was returned to its original owner, whose family called the Rogoffs to express their heartfelt gratitude.  And the company Annie’s was so inspired by the family’s act of honesty that they donated $10,000 to a food bank of the family’s choice.

And yes…Whole Foods gave the Rogoffs another box of crackers to replace the one they had returned.

The article and its follow-up.