Acts of Kindness
11-yr-old returns lost wallet to family never foreseeing them to track him down when his family struggles
Instead of the 11-year-old boy keeping the wallet for himself, he pulled the license out and dropped the wallet off at the address listed on it, completely intact. So when the family found out the boy’s dad had COVID they had to track him and his family down.
D.G. Sciortino
07.28.20

Chase Dahlke was having himself a lovely Memorial Day. The 17-year-old spent the day fishing at Voyageur Park in Green Bay Wisconsin.

But the fun day took a turn after the fishing was over. That’s when he noticed that something important of his was missing.

“I was fishing with my buddy,” he told WFRV Local 5. “After we got done fishing, I noticed that my wallet was gone. I got home, checked my drawers, there was nothing in there.”

WeAreGreenbay.com Screenshot
Source:
WeAreGreenbay.com Screenshot

Chase had thought he lost everything that was inside that wallet: his money, his ID.

He assumed it was time to cut his losses, then there was a knock at the door.

“Our watches and our phones were going off, saying someone was at the front door. We were across the street having a barbecue,” Chase’s stepmom Michelle Dahlke said.

WeAreGreenbay.com Screenshot
Source:
WeAreGreenbay.com Screenshot

They used their Ring app through their mobile devices to see and talk to who was at their door.

Jason Dahlke had answered and saw a young boy at his door.

The boy explained that he had found Chase’s wallet and was returning it.

WeAreGreenbay.com Screenshot
Source:
WeAreGreenbay.com Screenshot

Jason was taken aback by the act of kindness and wanted to thank the boy.

“I was still kind of in shock that somebody could do a nice gesture like this,” Jason said.

When he walked across the street to get the wallet, he didn’t have any cash on him so he gave the boy the $2 that was inside the wallet.

Posted by Michelle Dahlke onSaturday, August 3, 2019

“I’m a little upset that I only had a couple bucks in my wallet, I wish I had more money,” Chase said.

The act of kindness sat with the Dahlke family and they decided that they’d like to repay the kindness with more than just $2.

The only problem was that the boy and his father who returned the wallet left and there was no way to reach them.

Posted by Michelle Dahlke onMonday, May 25, 2020

So, Michelle took a screenshot of the boy from the doorbell camera app and made a post searching for the boy on Facebook.

“[She] made it public just to share with everybody, just to see if anybody in town knew who these people were,” Jason said.

They were able to find the boy right away. It ended up being 11-year-old Vince Hietpas.

Posted by Michelle Dahlke onMonday, May 25, 2020

Vince and his father Lorenzo were enjoying a walk in the park when the found the wallet.

“We were walking to our car, and then we saw the wallet next to a tree,” Vince said.

They decided to open it up to see if they could find an ID and they did, Chase’s driver’s license. So they brought the wallet to the address on the license.

***DONATION UPDATE…. https://www.gofundme.com/f/vince-the-kid-with-a-kind-heart?utm_medium=copy_link&…

Posted by Michelle Dahlke onMonday, May 25, 2020

“The dad, he was walking across the street and he said, ‘Hey you found the wallet.’ and I said ‘yeah, my kid found it,’” Lorenzo Herrera Olea said.

Lorenzo and Vince never expected to hear from the family or about the wallet again.

“We got two dollars and I was happy,” Vince said.

Posted by Michelle Dahlke onFriday, June 5, 2020

Family and friends who recognized Vince on Michelle’s post told them that their family had been struggling.

Lorenzo hadn’t been able to go back to his job at a meat processing plant.

This is because he was still recovering from coronavirus and the PPE he was required to wear at work made it too difficult for him to breathe. Lorenzo had to resort to doing odd jobs just to support his family.

Posted by Michelle Dahlke onFriday, June 5, 2020

“There is so much hate in this world and so much negativity. It’s time to focus on the positive. This kid and his dad found Chase’s wallet by Voyageur park. Instead of stealing everything Chase owns, they saw his address on Chase’s drivers license and dropped the wallet off all intact! There is so much good and positivity in this world, it’s time we focus on the good,” Michelle wrote on Facebook. “The dad had Covid and was out of work. This family still gave the wallet back even though they have nothing!”

Facebook Screenshot
Source:
Facebook Screenshot

After learning this, the Dahlkes decided they wanted to help the family out and their family and friends have also offered to help out.

“We have people reaching out to us, asking how they can help, how can they help this family who has raised this child so well,” Michelle said.

Source: GoFundMe Campaign Update

So, Michelle started a GoFundMe fundraiser for the family. The community also pitched in to get Vince some new clothes, Nike shoes, and lots of gift cards for the family to Walmart, Dicks, and Pizza Hut.

The GoFundMe ended up raising about $10,000 of its $15,000 goal so far.

You can donate to that GoFund Me here. Lorenzo and Vince brought the Dahlkes flowers and thank you card when the Dahlkes presented Lorenzo with the money that had been raised by GoFundMe so far. But Vince never expected any of this at all. He was just doing something he hoped someone would do for him.

“Doing the right thing is good,” he said

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