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Micah Speir: Garbageman Hero Returns $12K In Lost Money To Seattle School

By Patrick Frye
Published on: 13:49 PST, Nov 5, 2015

Micah Speir, a garbageman in Seattle, Washington, is being hailed as hero after he discovered nearly $12,000 in lost checks. The money was part of an October fundraising drive at Lawton Elementary School, so when the Waste Management employee went the extra mile, he saved the school officials a ton of money and stress.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Virvsaviya Borun, a 6-year-old girl born with her heart outside her chest, has been called a hero for her actions. George State Trooper Nathan Bradley has many applauding him for how responded to four children whose parents had died in a car accident.

To many, picking up waste may not seem too glamorous, but Micah Speir’s garbageman job allowed him to become a Seattle hero this week. Principal Dorian Manza says the school collected almost $12,000 in separate checks from donations raised from the community. The money is intended to pay for everything from school programs to supplies. Unfortunately, a PTA board member accidentally dropped the bagful of checks near some trash cans.

“It was kind of a little bit of a panic, and a frenzy – ‘Oh gosh, how many checks did we lost,'” recalled Manza.

As it turns out, the bag of lost money was dropped along the route of a certain garbageman. Speir noticed the bag seemed a little odd compared to the trash he was used to picking up.

“I noticed there was scattered trash and that’s what I was going to pick up,” said Speir. “And lo and behold it was something more than scattered trash.”

After the garbageman realized he had found $12,000 in checks, including a deposit slip and deposit bag, Speir contacted Principal Manaza in order to arrange a different type of pickup along the garbageman’s route.

“I told him, ‘I know you have a tough job, you went above and beyond. I tried to give him a tip with my own money but he said, ‘No sir, I can’t do that. I won’t do that,'” Manza remembers.

The garbageman says he refused an extra tip because he was only focused on doing the right thing. Speir did not want money for himself, he just wanted to be certain the $12,000 helped the teachers and children at Lawton Elementary School. Because the garbageman took this extra effort, the school officials were saved from having to track down everyone who had donated at the fundraiser, which was probably a daunting task in its own right.

“That’s just going the extra mile for students and families and a school, and it’s incredible. And it speaks to his character,” said Manza.

Micah Speir’s garbageman job may have placed him in the right place at the right time to become a Seattle hero, but the man also says he loves being a Waste Management worker.

“I’m not at a desk,” explained Speir. “It might get repetitive sometimes, but you’ve always got to pay attention to everything around you. Cars, bikes, pedestrians.”

The garbageman has been working the job for four years, but he has been driving large trucks since he was only 15-years-old. His family owns a Montana logging business and he was given the opportunity to drive big trucks from an early age. While being a garbageman may not sound like the most exciting job, Speir believes it does have its perks every now and then.

“It’s not dull at all,” he said, according to KOMO. “There’s never a dull moment being a garbage man.”

[Image via Buzzfeed]

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