Charity discovers valuable WWI papers in hidden box

A non-profit Goodwill Thirft site in the US recently discovered a trove of well-preserved World War II documents.

These papers were hidden away in a secret compartment of a box that was donated to the non-profit.

This item was handed into the store on 164th and Penn Ave in Edmond, Oklahoma, according to the Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma.

Staff at the location learned about the valuable WWII documents during a routine inspection of the donation.

The secret compartment included a Navy sailor’s discharge papers dating back to 1947, as well as several medals and a signed letter by former President Truman.

Thanks to identifying information in the papers, the Goodwill corporate team was able to track down further details about the sailor.

These included a matching obituary for the individual and a relative who is currently residing in Edmond.

As well as this, the team was able to initiate a prompt return to the sailor’s family over the Fourth of July weekend.

When items are accidentally donated to a location or personal information is included, Goodwill attempts to reunite owners with their items.

More recently, the organization’s ShopGoodwill team successfully returned a wrongfully donated OU class ring.

Furthermore, an award-winning ARPA rodeo belt buckle was reunited with its owners thanks to Goodwill.

The organization is reminding people that in cases of accidentally donated items time is the most important factor.

The Oklahoma’s site’s assistant store manager Katie Duer said: “Based on the condition of the lock box and the papers, we were confident the person who donated these items likely did not know about the existence of the compartment or the document.”

Director of Donated Goods Retail Dianne Beltz added: “Over the past year, we’ve been able to reunite several customers and donors with their items and it’s always a great feeling to be able to do that.

“The first 24 hours are usually the most critical.

“If we can track an item back to the store location at which it was donated and catch it before it enters our central warehouse – there are good chances our team is able to find it.”