Brinks truck drops $125,000, returned by man who really needed the money

It’s pretty hard to be an honest person when money is literally falling into your lap.

But not for this California man who gave back a bag filled with cash that flew off the back of a Brinks truck and landed on his street, Gawker reports, even though he really could have used it.

Joe Cornell says he often lives off just $1 a day for lunch, because he can’t afford much.

He was volunteering at the Salvation Army when the bag, which was filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars, must have dropped off the Brinks truck.

“I was watering my plants and my trees when an armored car stopped at the corner,” Cornell told KMPH Fox 26 News. “A car pulled up saying that the Brinks truck dropped something, but the armored car kept going.”

That’s when Cornell found the orange bag containing the small fortune and phoned the police. The officer who interview Cornell was just as shocked, telling him he’s one in a million because many people would not have turned in the money.

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“I thought ‘What type of man do I want my grandkids to think I am?’” said Cornell. “I want them to think I am just a man that does the right thing and I did the right thing.”

Cornell’s wife burst into tears upon hearing that he returned the money. Not because he didn’t keep the money, but because he was honest enough to return it.

Gawker reports that Brinks awarded Cornell $5000 for returning the money to them and they plan to make a $5000 donation to the Salvation Army in Cornell’s name.

For more people who did the right thing, like Cornell, check out these videos of some everyday heroes:

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