When These Kids Found A Wallet With $700 Inside, They Were Picked Up On CCTV Before Running Off

Indeed, the trio were about to pass the home of Jamie Carlton when they noticed something under the car on his driveway. As it turned out, it was a black wallet containing $700 in cash, much to the kids’ shock. After retrieving it, though, they were faced with a choice that tested their moral values.

While some teenagers might have ridden off with the money, Haylie, Reagan and Ashley had other ideas. With seemingly no one else around, the trio hopped off their bikes and approached Carlton’s front door, hoping to grab his attention. However, not even they could have predicted what happened next.

In a bid to avoid any unwelcome visitors, Carlton had installed a security camera on his porch, which also included a voice recorder for those wanting to leave a message. Unknown to the three kids, they were recorded as they walked up to the door, but that all changed when the camera’s voice greeted them.

After shooting Ashley a quick look, Haylie stares up at the camera and explains why they’re outside the house. “We found your wallet outside of your car,” she says. “And we just thought we’d give it back to you. So I’m just going to put it over here so no one takes any money.”

The teenager puts the wallet down and starts to move away, before adding, “You’re welcome. Thank you.” The trio then make their way back to the sidewalk to collect their bikes, bringing the footage to a close. However, that heart-warming act of kindness certainly didn’t go unnoticed by Carlton, as he eventually saw the message.

A week later, Carlton decided to upload the security footage on his Facebook page, praising the actions of the children. “If this doesn’t renew or at least refresh your faith in humanity you need help,” he wrote in the accompanying post. “These kids are amazing [and] we would love to find them to reward them and thank them.”

“[The kids’] parents should be so proud of them,” Carlton added. “Any help finding them would be great.” However, not even he could have envisioned the response to the short clip, as it soon went viral. Indeed, Carlton’s video has earned over 500,000 views since being posted, as well as over 6,000 likes and 4,000 shares.

In addition, Carlton’s post also generated over 500 comments on the social media site, most of which praised the actions of Haylie, Reagan and Ashley. “Renews my faith in humanity,” wrote user Carole Nicholson. “God bless these kids and their parents for raising them to be honest and kind.”

Those feelings were reiterated by fellow user Penny Nichols, who also hailed their respective moms and dads. “This definitely should go viral!” she wrote in the Facebook comments section. “Does a heart good. Job well done kids, and hats off [to] the parents for a wonderful upbringing!”

Elsewhere, user Carol Knight insisted that the children were fully deserving of the praise heaped upon them following the incident. “Such amazing kids, you rock,” she wrote. “Keep being the way you are, you all deserve recognition for what you did. God bless you.”

However, among the hundreds of other comments, Ashley’s mother Desiree Dayton made herself known, crediting her daughter as one of the trio. “On behalf of today’s society, thank you for raising such an amazing kid, with lots of integrity!” user Veronica Oronia wrote in response.

As it turned out, the wallet belonged to Nigel Drake, who is Carlton’s son. It dropped out of his pocket on the way back to the house following one of his shifts as a bartender. Unsurprisingly, Drake was incredibly thankful to the children for what they did and praised their parents as well.

“It gives you faith in humanity that there are good kids out there,” Drake told Colorado’s 9 News in July 2018. “These kids’ parents are raising them the right way.” With that being said, though, Haylie’s mother refused to accept the plaudits for what happened, insisting that the trio deserved all the credit.

“It is very humbling [that] the kids have gotten so much attention!” Kerri Wenke told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper in July 2018. “I would like to take credit for their actions, but we really can’t. They were by themselves and chose to put the wallet in a safe place all on their own!”

“As parents, we always hope [the children] are doing the right thing when we are not around or when no one is watching,” Kerri continued. “It makes me very proud!” Indeed, her husband Frank echoed those sentiments, adding, “We try our best to make sure they are taught [the difference] between right and wrong.”

However, despite being showered with admiration, Haylie insists that the decision to return the wallet was an easy one. “It wasn’t our money and we didn’t really need it, so we just gave it back,” she told WCNC News in North Carolina. “If you see something that someone left or dropped, always give it back and do the right thing.”

As a child, summer vacation represents a time of real excitement and adventure. For teenager Haylie Wenke and her friends, though, one trip to the local park led to an act of kindness that changed everything. And while they did “the right thing,” that doesn’t make them any less deserving of the praise that followed.