SANDPOINT — What would you do if you found $3,500 in cash?

Daniel McKellar, who runs a demolition firm on Australia’s Gold Coast, had stopped at a local convenience store for coffee on his way home. Getting back into his truck, he didn’t notice the envelope with the cash had fallen out of his pocket, landing on the ground.

As soon as he got home, he realized the envelope was missing and called the store, according to a story on the Good News Network website. While McKellar asked if anyone had found it and turned it in, he told Australian media that he had already made peace with the money being gone.

To his surprise, he was told that a young man — later identified as 17-year-old Josh Pache — had turned it in to a cashier without giving his name. Instead, he hopped on his bike and rode away.

With only CCTV footage of the teen, McKellar took to Instagram to share what had happened.

Could, he asked, the internet “do its magic & find the young fella?” He wanted to give Pache a reward to thank him for his honesty.

It wasn’t long before the teen’s mom heard about what happened, recognized her son and reached out.

When McKellar and the teen connected, Pache said the money would go toward his goal of buying a truck. Impressed, McKellar offered him a job and helped set up a GoFundMe campaign, which raised more than $10,000 — just shy of what it will take to buy the truck.

The rest of the money — the other $2,500 — McKellar donated to another GoFundMe campaign raising money for a cancer patient’s surgery. He told Australian media that recovering the money was an unexpected blessing, but since he had already reconciled its loss, it only made sense to pay it forward and help someone else.

“I was never expecting the money back. I thought once I lost it … I was expecting someone to have taken it,” McKellar is quoted as saying in the story. “I definitely had no expectation to get it back, so in my mind it was already gone.”

Like McKellar and Pache, all who donate to the Sandpoint Lions’ Toys for Tots are paying it forward, helping make Christmas merry for the community’s youth.

Each year, the Lions team up with local businesses and residents through Toys for Tots to ensure everyone has a merry Christmas.

Funds raised go toward purchasing new toys for area children — or gift cards for older youth — who live in the Lake Pend Oreille School District.

Every Christmas, the Lions help almost 1,000 area children, from Sandpoint to Clark Fork and all points in between.

This year’s goal is $75,000 to ensure all area youth receive a present. Donations may be mailed to the Sandpoint Lions Club, P.O. Box 414, Sandpoint, ID 83864, or dropped into any coin jar around town. Donations should include a note that it is for Toys for Tots and, if you wish to remain anonymous, please mention that in your note.

Donations made by check are preferred. Be sure to include a note with your check indicating that it is a Toys for Tots donation. If you wish to make an anonymous donation, please include a note.

If the donation is being made in someone’s name, be sure to also include a note.

Each day during the drive, donors’ names will be published along with the amount of their donations. A running total will be included to help the community know where the Toys for Tots campaign stands.

If you can, please consider donating. Every penny, every dollar adds up, and if we all pitch in, we can make this, once again, a successful Toys for Tots campaign. Additional donations help the Lions buy ahead and make the most of the community’s generous support.

In Sandpoint, toys and donations can be dropped off at Mr. Sub, Columbia Bank, Bonner County Daily Bee, Connie’s Cafe, Serv-A-Burger and Mountain West Bank.

In Sagle, toys and donations can be dropped off at Buckin’ Beans and Encoder Products (in the front lobby, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.).

In Ponderay, toys and donations can be dropped off at Alpenglow Salon, Walmart, North 40, Columbia Bank, Arnie’s, Better Together Animal Shelter, Community Resource EnVision Center, Litehouse, Elite Tire, Vinnie Todd’s Barbershop and Mountain West Bank.

Information: Sandpoint Lions Club, 208-263-4118, [email protected] or bit.ly/SandpointLions