Garbage man finds $12K in checks in trash, returns money to local school

A Seattle garbage man found $12,000 in checks in the trash and returned them to a local elementary school, a district spokeswoman said.

The Waste Management employee was picking up trash next to some bins and found several checks made out to Lawton Elementary School. The Magnolia neighborhood school has about 430 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

The school principal met the garbage man on his route – Micah Speir, according to the Associated Press – and took the checks back. They were for a fundraising drive and the bag that held them was accidentally dropped along the garbage route by a parent.