The Salvation Army chapter in Omaha/Council Bluffs has been twice-blessed this week. For the second time in four days, someone’s dropped a valuable gold coin in one of the red kettles. In the latest case, the coin is worth more than $800.
Brandon Braithwaite was manning the kettle outside an Omaha grocery store on Wednesday when someone dropped a gold Krugerrand into the pot. Braithwaite says: "When I was bell ringing, it happened. It got dropped in my kettle and I was told it was a solid ounce of gold. I don’t know exactly when because whoever did it was pretty slick."
Braithwaite says the gold coin was inside an envelope wrapped in a dollar bill. On the envelope was written "This makes two. I hope it brings still more to you." Written on the other side, "A Copycat Donor."
He says, "They hid it in a dollar bill wrapped up like a little present so I have no idea who did it." Braithwaite is pleased the coin was dropped into his kettle. The 26-year-old suffers from multiple sclerosis and mans the kettle from a wheelchair.
Braithwaite says, "I have a lot of kids who like to come up and say ‘hi’ to me and drop a couple pennies or whatever in the kettle." The coin is worth about $840. Another Kruggerand worth about $250 was dropped in a kettle in Omaha earlier in the week.