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Rockland County Family Searches For Owner Of Wedding Ring Found In Charity Donation Bag

NEW CITY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Rockland County family is determined to prove the value of good deeds, after finding a wedding band in a donation bag.

As CBS2's Ali Bauman reported, the Cirlin house in New City is bedecked in so many elaborate Christmas decorations that it is known as the North Pole Airport. The propellers on the inflatable aircraft were spinning on the front lawn Christmas night, and 9,000 Christmas lights were shining as bright as ever.

The house is a local attraction, and those who come bring donations to help the homeless.

"I mean look at the line of cars here -- everyone loves it," said Gary Cirlin, "and brighter lights bring more people and more people mean more donations."

The family collects the donations for several local charities each year. On Christmas Eve, Cirlin sorted through canned goods with his brother-in-law.

"Just going through dozens of bags and I pulled out some pasta and some cans, and lo and behold, I see a ring at the bottom of the plastic bag," said Erik Lazerus, Cirlin's brother-in-law.

It was a silver wedding band with an inscription in a language they did not know.

"We thought right away this had to come off someone's hand when they were bagging their grocery donations," Cirln said.

"If I lost my ring, I would hope that someone would be out there trying to find me," Lazerus said.

The family said they had sorted through thousands of canned food donations alongside hundreds of volunteers, so if they really wanted to track down the ring's owner, they would have to spread to the word to a lot of people.

Fortunately for the Cirlin family, being shy has never been an issue.

"There's nothing I can just walk away from that's not a big, extravagant, involved process," Cirlin said.

Cirlin posted a photo on Facebook, asking if anyone knew whose it was, and it has been reposted again and again.

"With the power of the North Pole Airport and the great fans that we've accumulated this year, we knew we had a great platform to hopefully find the owner," he said.

And even after the lights come down, and the North Pole Airport closes for the season, Cirln said, "No one who donated to a cause to feed the homeless should have a negative consequence."

The brothers-in-law said they will keep searching until the mystery spouse is found.

Cirlin's Nyack Homeless Project can be reached at info@nyackhp.org or (845) 358-7122.

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