In mid-January, a store team member from Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin (Menasha) found and returned a young cancer survivor’s missing class ring.
The Post-Crescent, a local newspaper, reported that Deirdra Moon, a team member at the Grand Chute store, was sorting through the donations when she spotted a 2013 class ring from Appleton West High School—Moon’s alma mater. It bore the word “survivor” and a yellow sarcoma cancer awareness ribbon.
When Moon recalled seein the name “Tim Klotz” on a yellow cancer awareness band worn by an employee at an area Burger King, she made the connection, found Klotz on Facebook, and added him as a friend. She wrote to him to let him know she had found his ring, which led to an in-person meeting where she returned the ring.
“We’re so proud of Deirdra Moon for living our core value of putting people first,” said Bob Pedersen, president & CEO of the Menasha Goodwill. “She is truly a compassionate and caring team member.”
The ring was meaningful because his maternal grandmother in Florida had given it to him as a birthday gift after Klotz had undergone an amputation, three years of chemotherapy and more than 30 surgeries after learning he had osteosarcoma, a cancerous bone tumor.
Klotz had set the ring on his nightstand, realizing only a few days later it was missing. During that same time period, his family had made a donation to Goodwill and the ring was accidentally included among the items brought to the store.
