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Mystery Giver Leaves $10,000 In WTC Donation Box

NEW YORK (AP/1010 WINS/CBS 2) -- An anonymous benefactor in New York City stuffed $10,000 in cash into a 9/11 donation box at the World Trade Center.

Joe Daniels, president of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, said that officials found 99 $100 bills and five 20s in the box on Tuesday night.

The box hangs on a wall at the 9/11 memorial preview site.

"It's amazing, we do get donations at the site every single day, but nothing on the scale of a $10,000 gift," Daniels told 1010 WINS. "It's just tremendously heart-warming."

Memorial officials believe the money was slipped into the box sometime between 5 p.m. -- when the box was last checked -- and 7 p.m., when the preview site closed.

Officials believe the donation was made by a single person. They say the bills were crisp and unfolded, appearing to have been recently withdrawn from the bank.

Daniels said officials would love to know the donor's name so they could say thank you but he added, "if the donor wishes to remain anonymous we understand that too."

(TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

 

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