ABC News

A Seattle trash collector is being hailed for his integrity after he returned a bag with about $12,000 in checks to a local elementary school after discovering it on his route.

Micah Speir, from the King County Waste Management Company, told ABC News he spotted a bank bag in a pile of scattered trash at about 7:45 a.m. on Oct. 26. A slip inside the bag said the checks were for a recent fundraiser held at the Lawton Elementary School by the school's Parent Teacher Association. The money pays for various items such as school supplies and art supplies, according to ABC affiliate KOMO.

After making multiple phone calls, Speir said he finally reached the principal, who told him a member of the PTA accidentally dropped the bag in the trash. The garbage man, who has been with Waste Management for four years, said Principal Dorian Manza met him on his trash route, took out his wallet and offered to personally pay him back for returning the money. Speir declined.

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