Honesty is the best policy: Garbage man reaps benefits for doing the right thing

GREELEY, Colo. — A garbage man in Greeley, Colorado returned a small Christmas gift to a family that accidentally threw it out. Now, they're repaying his act of kindness in a big way.

KDVR.com reports after a Christmas morning of excitement, Brenda Edwards and her husband Jason wanted to clean up a bit. But in all the craziness, a $50 JCPenney gift card somehow ended up in the trash. Nobody noticed it was gone until it was too late.

The good news -- that gift card was not lost forever, thanks to Jimmy James, who works for Bunting Disposal. James spotted the card on his route, rescued it from the heap and handed it to his driver to check the balance.

“I had to stay on the back throwing trash and we kept working. I had him call it and check it and he told me what was on it,” James said. “There was $50, so I had him put it in my wallet for me and then when we got off work that day I went by Jason’s house.”

Jason Edwards couldn’t believe someone would take the time to drive back on their own time and personally return the card.

The Edwards family was overjoyed -- and asked FOX31 Denver to present James with an envelope containing $75 cash. On the outside he wrote, “To Jimmy, Thank you for your honesty.”