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Homeless Man Finds $17,000, Gives It To Food Bank

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SUMNER, WASH. (CBS Local) – A homeless man in Washington state is being praised for his generosity and honesty after turning in thousands of dollars found in a bag outside a food bank.

Staff at the Sumner Community Food Bank say Kevin Booth is homeless and has been coming to the center for the last five years.

One day recently, he found a bag with $17,000 inside on the food bank's front doorstep. But instead of keeping it, he handed it over to a food bank.

"He leaned over, picked it up, looked in it and he knew it was money," Anita Miller, executive director of the food bank, told KCPQ. "He waited for our person who comes in at 7:30 in the morning. He waited for her, gave it to her and said, 'Somebody left this for you.'"

Police held the money for 90 days and since no one came to claim it, the food bank was allowed to keep it.

Booth was presented with a Police Chief's Citizen Citation from the Sumner Police Department last week and gift cards to his favorite store, Fred Meyer.

Miller says that all the money will be used to expand the building so that they can provide more services to the homeless and to families in need.

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