Paying it Forward: When 100$ Turn Into 150,000$

What would you do if you won the lottery? Many of you have probably asked yourself that question before. Most people would usually say they would buy a house and go on a trip around the world. Only later do they think about donating some of it to charity. Obviously, Shetara Sims is not most people. Sims found a dollar bill in a parking lot and used it to buy a lottery ticket. To her surprise, she won $100! It would totally stand to reason to just splurge it on a fancy dinner, Sims had a different idea in mind: she decided to donate it to the family of an injured police officer. The local authorities were touched by her gesture and repaid her with generosity.

Paying it forward

When Shetara won her 100 dollars, her own bank account was at its final pennies. She and her family could have used the lottery winnings, but her daughter, a 12-year-old girl, told her mother she should give it to the cop’s family, who probably needed it even more than Sims’s family. The daughter remembered how generous the authorities had been several years ago. In 2012, Sims tragically lost a child, and the police supported her through it.

So much for anonymous

Giving her winnings away wasn’t so simple for Sims. At first, there was a bit of pushback from the police, who knew she was unemployed and financially unstable and thought it would be best if she kept the money to herself. She didn’t back down, however, and asked that her money would be donated anonymously. As it happens, the anonymity didn’t last long.

Better than the lottery

If anyone has the resources to identify an anonymous person, it is the police. When the Kansas City PD discovered what Sims has done, they quickly came up with a way to help her out. They started a GoFundMe campaign that would help her get back on her feet. The campaign raised an unbelievable amount of more than 150,000 dollars! The tearful Sims got back way more than she gave away, plus the sense of strong support of her community.