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This Low Income Father Returned $1,200 Mistakenly Sent to Him

Gerrell McAllister reminds us of the power of a good deed.

A 28-year-old father in Tacoma, Washington, is showing everyone that it pays to be a good person (literally).

Last week, Gerrell McAllister, a cashier at a natural pet food store whose mother recently passed away, received an email from Paypal saying “you’ve got money!” Upon checking the notification, McAllister realized he'd been sent $1,200 from a man named Alan Trusler. 

Although McAllister had no idea why he was sent the money, he quickly did the right thing and refunded the payment, reported BuzzFeed News.

  • Trusler meant to sent the money to his daughter Melissa for her 30th birthday. However, when he sent the cash, he accidentally sent it to Melissa's old phone number (which happens to now belong to McAllister). 

    Once McAllister returned the money, Melissa sent him a note thanking him for his kindness and honesty. In return, McAllister asked Melissa to share his story. 

    "You're so very welcome! But if you could tell your family and friends that a low income 28 year old Black man from Tacoma with a 5 year old daughter returned your money, I would find that helpful in improving race relations while reaffirming the dope ass culture we as Western Washingtonians have worked so hard to cultivate. And that, in turn, would help me to stop kicking myself in the ass for remaining morally sound through the tough times my family and I are experiencing at the moment, lol. In short, share the story, spread the love. Thank you," McAllister wrote to Melissa. 

  • Melissa followed through with his wish and posted his story to Facebook

  • Soon enough, people inspired by the story started sending McAllister intentional payments on Paypal

    After receiving money from strangers, McAllister felt this experience was extremely "therapeutic after the loss our family has gone through." 

    "To be honest I haven’t checked my PayPal since that day," McAllister told BuzzFeed. "I want to try to message everyone back individually to say thank you."

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