PEI

P.E.I. tourists thankful to anonymous Islander who returned lost cash

A man visiting P.E.I. for a cycling trip says he is blown away by the "kindness of Islanders," after nearly $300 in lost cash made its way back to him.

When Doug Dvorak lost nearly $300 on the Confederation Trail, he never expected to see the money again

Doug and Cathy Dvorak, visiting from Idaho, lost nearly $300 in cash while biking on the Confederation Trail. (Submitted by Doug Dvorak)

A man visiting P.E.I. for a cycling trip says he is blown away by the "kindness of Islanders," after nearly $300 in lost cash made its way back to him.

Doug Dvorak and his wife Cathy are visiting the Island from Idaho. On Saturday, Dvorak had $285 in cash in his pocket when he set out for a bike ride on the Confederation Trail. 

"Next thing I knew it, at our first coffee stop the money was gone and I was scratching my head and my wife was pointing her finger at me," said Dvorak. 

Cash returned thanks to social media, honest stranger 

Dvorak and his wife are travelling with P.E.I. Cycling Tours. When he realized his cash was missing, he contacted tour operator Cynthia King. Dvorak asked King to check in the van she'd shuttled them in that morning, in case the cash had fallen out there.

When King's search turned up empty, Dvorak assumed he'd never see the money again.

"I said 'well, hopefully we make somebody's day,'" Dvorak said.

Cynthia King saw a post on Facebook about cash found on the Confederation Trail, and thought it was likely the money lost by one of her customers. (Cynthia King/Facebook)

But just hours later, King saw a post on Facebook from a woman who said her husband had found cash while hiking on the Confederation Trail — and was looking for the rightful owner.

King sent the woman a message, letting her know where on the trail Dvorak lost the money and the amount. 

"Then I got an answer back almost immediately saying 'this is the money,'" King said. 

'The money means nothing'

The next day, King met up with the man who found the money, to collect it for Dvorak. 

"He didn't want to be recognized or named. He just wanted to remain anonymous and just said he was just glad he could help and get the money back to its owner."

Dvorak said he was glad to get his money back, but more importantly he was amazed by the kindness and honesty of the anonymous stranger.  

"The money means nothing. What really … is most memorable and meaningful to me is that somebody would do that," Dvorak said. 

"That's worth thousands of dollars that I can't quantify in a dollar amount. [It] makes me happy about nice people and random acts of kindness."

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