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Unselfish Act Earns Unexpected Reward

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 16, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Sometimes, honesty does pay.

Debbie Cole, the Pinellas County employee who turned in $65,000 she found this month rather than keep it, was rewarded Monday.

She was given $5,000 by Loomis, the security company that was supposed to be transporting the cash but inexplicably lost it at the county solid waste compound where Cole works.

And from Regions Bank, where the money was supposed to end up, Cole received a stay at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.

'Wow is right,' the 53-year-old grandmother said after the two companies presented their tokens of appreciation to her. 'This is above and beyond - I never expected anything like this.'

'I believe it was anything anyone would have done,' Cole said.

While on break Oct. 4, Cole stumbled across a Loomis bag in the middle of a road at the Pinellas County Utilities solid waste center, 3095 114th Ave. N. In it was $65,000. The bag apparently had fallen off a Loomis armored truck.

John P. Keane, an official with Loomis, would not say Monday how the company lost the money.

Cole turned the money over to her supervisor, and it made its way back to the security company.

Since then, Cole has become a nationwide symbol of integrity, receiving letters of appreciation from across the country and small donations. Her story even made it onto the Yahoo news page.

As for what she is going to do with the $5,000, Cole said her daughter Danielle, a 32-year-old teacher at Memorial Middle School in Tampa, became engaged Sunday night, so the money will go toward the wedding.

Memorial Middle also is expected to be given the $75 or so in donations Cole has received; the money will go to the needs of homeless students who attend the school but live in a group home, she said.

Cole said she will take her daughter Devon Rogers, Rogers' husband and the couple's 2 1/2 -year-old daughter, Lena, to Disney World. Lena received a lime-green tricycle from Regions Bank.

After some discussion, the powers-that-be at the county concluded Cole, by accepting the cash and trip, would not be violating its antigift policy for employees because she was being rewarded for a specific act, said Pick Talley, the director of Pinellas County Utilities.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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