“Money is useless without character,” Jaydon Cintron said about returning the money he found near the toilet on his break
NEED TO KNOW
- A Chick-Fil-A employee recently found nearly $10,000 in the store bathroom on his break and immediately returned it
- When the owner of the money tried to give the Kinston, N.C. Chick-Fil-A employee, Jaydon Cintron, a reward, he turned it down at first
- “I did this because that’s what Jesus would do,” Cintron told WITN, explaining that his actions were guided by his faith
A Chick-fil-A employee is getting recognized for doing a good deed.
Jaydon Cintron, an employee at the Kinston, N.C. Chick-fil-A, found nearly $10,000 in the bathroom during his break and returned it, and then tried to turn down the $500 reward he was offered, per WITN.
Cintron found two white envelopes next to the toilet while on his break, one with around $5,000 that was labeled First Citizens Bank and one with $4,333 labeled Truist Bank, the outlet reported.
Credit: Google Maps
“I just picked it up, and I brought it to the human resources,” Cintron told the outlet.
He said he didn't keep the money because “that's not what Jesus would have done. That's not what God would have wanted.”
“Money is useless without character,” he added.
The owner of the money reportedly came forward to the police to claim it. He then offered Cintron $500 for returning the money, but the employee declined at first.
Per WITN, he told the man he didn't expect a reward for doing something guided by his faith.
“I don't want anything out of this,” Cintron said. “I did this because that's what Jesus would do.”
After declining the money several times, he finally accepted it.
“We’re grateful for Team Members like Jaydon who demonstrate integrity and a genuine care for others," Kinston Chick-fil-A Owner-Operator John McPhaul told PEOPLE in an email.
"Acts like this reflect the values our restaurants aim to uphold each day, and we’re proud to see that lived out here at Chick-fil-A Kinston," he added.
“True leadership, you know, true integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching,“ McPhaul told WITN, adding, “Jay did that in this case, and he should be commended for it.”
Kinston Police Chief Keith Goyette told WITN, “a lot of people will, unfortunately, take that money and run with it, but kudos to that employee at Chick-Fil-A, [he] definitely deserves a reward.”
The chicken chain recently reversed a change that they made to their Waffle Potato Fries after fan critiques.
A representative for Chick-fil-A confirmed to PEOPLE on March 3 that the fries no longer contain pea starch, which they added in late 2024.
The chain shared in a notice on its website at the time that a "slight adjustment" was made to allow the fries to "stay crispier, longer," including a coating that contained pea starch.
After lots of online dissent, including influencer Daryl-Ann Denner saying, "now they just taste gross," per Southern Living, a customer support page on the brand's website now says, "Does your Waffle Fry recipe contain Pea Starch? No."
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