Do you ever sit down to pay your monthly bills, and secretly hope that you’ll log into Wells Fargo online only to find out you have more money than you should? You know, like maybe your company added a little extra to your paycheck this month. Or perhaps THIS is the start to one of those miracle stories where God just swoops in and financially blesses you RIGHT when you needed it most?
Yeah, me too.
For Garrell McAllister, that daydream became a reality this past week when he woke up to a PayPal notification saying that he’d received $1,200.
“It said ‘You’ve got money!’ so I’m thinking ‘You’ve got jokes!’” the 28-year-old dad laughed.
At first, he thought it might be a scam, but once realizing it was a legitimate and very real PayPal payment, Gerrell freaked out. $1,200 is nothing to sneeze at, especially for the young Tacoma, Washington, father who’s had a rough go as of late.
BuzzFeed/Gerrell McAllister
Gerrell’s mother passed away in December, and according to his older brother, Gerrell has taken the loss especially hard.
A cashier at a natural pet foods store, Gerrell says he’s been working on healing from the loss of his mother, but his main focus is caring for his 5-year-old daughter.
All that to say, $1,200 would have been a major help. But Gerrell didn’t keep the money.
He instinctively issued a refund almost immediately—something Melissa Trusler and her dad, Alan, are now praising him for.
Melissa Trusler
It turns out that Alan was sending the $1,200 payment to his daughter Melissa as a 30th birthday gift—to help her with the cost of a couch she’d recently purchased.
The mixup happened because Alan sent the money to Melissa’s old phone number, which now belongs to Gerrell.
“Returning the money was instinctive because of the values my mom instilled in me,” Gerrell explained. “I’m trying to be the best person and provide the best example for my daughter.”
With the refund, Gerrell added, “Returning the money hurts, but it’s the right thing to do. Tell her I said happy birthday! I’ll try to fix the problem on my end so it doesn’t happen again. Take care.”
Melissa Trusler
Impressed by his honesty, and how quickly he processed the refund, Alan and Melissa were grateful for the way Gerrell handled the situation—especially with the large lump sum at stake.
Melissa thanked Gerrell, who responded by saying:
“You’re so very welcome! But if you could tell your family and friends that a low income 28-year-old Black man from Tacoma with a 5-year-old daughter returned your money, I would find that helpful in improving race relations while reaffirming the dope-a$$ culture we as Western Washingtonians have worked so hard to cultivate.”
He says it was important to him that people know he did it without hesitation because “Tacoma has a reputation of being lower class and untrustworthy.” He continued, “We call it the ‘Tacoma grit,’ but we’re not bad people.”
Melissa shared the encounter on her Facebook page, and it wasn’t long before her friends and followers were requesting Gerrell’s PayPal information so they could send him a gift!
Some sent $20, $30, $50 and even $100!
“As soon as that one arrived, it was nonstop,” Gerrell says. “Majority of them have such heartfelt, heartwarming messages.”
As fate would have it, Melissa’s brother also passed away in December—the same time that Gerrell’s mother had died. He said he was completely speechless when he found out, while Melissa says the shared experiences are a reminder of just “how connected communities can be.”
Melissa Trusler
Gerrell says more than the financial help that came pouring in, it’s the kind words from strangers that have been “therapeutic after the loss our family has gone through.”
“To be honest I haven’t checked my PayPal since that day,” he said, admitting he doesn’t know how much money has been sent his way. “I want to try to message everyone back individually to say thank you. I don’t want the money to detract from that. I don’t want that to dilute the intent.”
Their chance encounter serves as an incredible reminder that sometimes it literally pays to be honest and do the right thing.
Even further, it’s a reminder that you never know what someone is going through, but we all have the power to erase stereotypes, and love one another the way Christ loved us.
