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Man Honors Late Wife by Giving Engagement Ring to The Salvation Army in Carmel
By Ana Ceballos
Monterey Herald
MONTEREY— A man, who remains anonymous, decided to donate a prized and sentimental item from his late wife to the Salvation Army red kettle campaign.
His gift is now considered one of the largest donations recorded in the century-long history of the campaign in Monterey County.
The anonymous donor dropped his late wife’s engagement ring and a note into a kettle outside a Carmel Safeway store in The Crossroads shopping center. The Salvation Army staff found the items when they opened the red kettle on Christmas Eve.
According to the note the donor left along with the ring, his reason for gifting the ring was to benefit the memory of his late wife Edith May Sullivan Hannes, who passed away 11 years ago.
The anonymous man said he kept the ring since she passed, but determined that holding on to it was not “benefiting anyone of her memory.” He decided to change that.
He left the note with no name and signed off with the words, “Merry Christmas.”
The ring has been appraised at $3,500 and is expected to be sold to a local jeweler. The money will be used to give hundreds of individuals food, clothing and other necessities, as well as toys for children.
Lloyd Graff, a spokesman with the Salvation Army, said that although the donation has not yet been calculated for this year’s campaign, which ended on Dec. 28, this donation will be a “major part of the funding.”
“We’ve tried to track him down. He was probably in the area visiting a friend of whatever, but we can’t find a record of him in the (Monterey) Peninsula,” Graff said.
Graff said the obituary of the donor’s late wife was found, adding that her funeral — 11 years ago — was held in Canada. He said the donor may not be a Monterey County local, he may not even be a U.S. citizen.
“We may not be able to reach him, but we would just like to really thank him,” Graff said.