This article appeared in the January 08, 2019 edition of the Monitor Daily.

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The price of integrity

Mark Lennihan/AP
A woman stopped to give money to a homeless woman on Wall Street in New York.

Here are three true stories that might just challenge your assumptions about the homeless and integrity.

A year ago, Elmer Alvarez found a $10,000 check. He didn’t try to cash it, he searched for its owner and found her. In gratitude, New Haven, Conn., real estate broker Roberta Hoskie put a roof over his head for seven months and put him through real estate school.

When Kevin Booth found $17,000 in cash in a paper bag outside a food bank in Sumner, Wash., he didn’t pocket the cash. The homeless man turned it in. Police investigated, found no evidence of a crime and no one claimed it. The money was given to the food bank last month. After Mr. Booth was praised by police for his honesty, a GoFundMe campaign collected more than $14,000 for him.

In Milan, Italy, a vlogger who stages “Candid Camera”-style ethics tests, dressed as a homeless man in a park. After people walked by, he ran after them saying he’d just found a €20 bill on the ground. Was it theirs? The final honesty score: 11 took the bill, only five said the bill wasn’t theirs.

Would you pass that integrity test? Is your honesty worth €20 or $10,000?

Mr. Alvarez, the man who returned the $10,000 check, recently told CBS News that just because a person is without a home, it doesn't mean they're without character.

Now to our five selected stories, including a look at justice for those affected by sex trafficking, at collaboration with Canada, and at the power of play in Mexico.


This article appeared in the January 08, 2019 edition of the Monitor Daily.

Read 01/08 edition
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