11-Year-Old Returns Lost Wallet to Owners Despite Being Poor - Little Did He Know What Was Coming Next

They say that what goes around, comes around — meaning that if you treat someone badly, you will be treated badly yourself. But then the opposite is true, too, as one father and son in De Pere, Wisconsin found out.

What a 11-Year-Old Did When He Found a Lost Wallet

Eleven-year-old Vince and his father Lorenzo were taking a walk in a park one day over a long holiday weekend when the boy stumbled upon a wallet. He and his father didn’t hesitate to do the right thing: they opened the wallet to identify the owner, Chase Dahlke, and then drove to return it to him.

Seventeen-year-old Chase had lost his wallet earlier that day while out fishing with his friends. He searched and searched, but eventually, Chase had returned home to attend a neighborhood party with his family.

When young Vince showed up later at the Dahlke family’s doorstep with the wallet, Chase’s dad Jason was both happy and relieved. There were only two dollars in the wallet, but Jason handed them right over to Vince. He wished he could do more to show his gratitude to the boy for returning the wallet, but he didn’t have any more cash on him, and the boy left without Jason getting his name or contact information.

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When the family was talking about the story later that day, they decided that they wanted to do more to pay back the boy’s kindness. But what could they do? They didn’t know where the boy lived; they didn’t even know his name. Would they ever see him again?

That’s when Chase’s mother Michelle realized they had a picture of the boy from their Ring doorbell app. She quickly made a Facebook post using the photo and told her friends and family about the boy’s honest act and how she was hoping to find him again to express her gratitude. In no time at all, people in the community identified Vince and told Michelle how to get in contact with him.

What One Family Did for a Father and Son Duo

When Michelle and her family eventually reconnected with Vince and Lorenzo, they were surprised to learn just what Vince’s own family had been going through. Lorenzo had recently recovered from Covid but was still suffering from the aftereffects. He had tried to return to his job at a meat packing plant but had difficulty breathing through the PPE required for his job. So Lorenzo had resorted to taking odd jobs, struggling to make ends meet. And yet, when Vince had stumbled upon the lost wallet, he and his father knew exactly what to do.

And so did Michelle. Inspired by their honesty and integrity, she decided to rally the support of the community to help Lorenzo and Vince. She got back on social media, this time posting: “This family still gave the wallet back even though they have nothing! This family could use some love and support from us.”

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The response was so tremendous that the Dahlke family set up a GoFundMe page for Vince’s family, and the support came rolling in, quicker and in greater quantities than anyone expected!

To date, over 400 donors have raised over $11,000 for the family, and the fundraiser is still running. Donations from individual donors range from $5 to $250. Even local businesses, including Walmart and Domino’s, contributed, reaching out to help the father-son duo with merchandise and gift cards. 

But when Michelle asked Lorenzo what Vince would like most of all as a reward for his good deed, the request was a simple one: socks. Vince and his father had been sharing socks, and the boy simply wanted some new socks.

How One Little Boy Proved Good Things Come To Good People

Michelle wanted to do something special, both to commend Vince for his good deed and to thank the community that was supporting one of their members in need. To present all these items to the family in a meaningful way, she invited them to her house. In the backyard, the family put out balloons and baskets full of snacks and goodies. In addition to the requested socks, there were Under Armour clothes and Nike shoes.

When Lorenzo and Vince walked into the yard and saw all the gifts, they were overwhelmed. And though they were the guests of honor that day, they didn’t show up empty-handed. True to his humble and gracious nature, Lorenzo had brought flowers for the Dahlke family. 

Both Lorenzo and Vince were caught off guard by the community’s overwhelming support and the Dahlke family’s gratitude for what they considered simply the right thing to do. But what goes around, comes around.

As Jason told Lorenzo, many people would have simply chucked the wallet into a trash can; but they had taken the time and energy to go out of their way and return to its rightful owner. And the community expressed its gratitude for counting Lorenzo and Vince among them.

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