MTSU student finds cash in parking lot and makes someone's day

He turns it in and Arby's rewards him with $1,000 scholarship; owner is 'shocked' to get money back By Mark Bell • GANNETT TENNESSEE • March 26, 2010 MURFREESBORO — An MTSU student was rewarded Thursday for the "integrity" he showed in turning in $1,200 he found in an Arby's parking lot. There's "no question" that Dallas Blackwell deserved to be rewarded, said Melissa Howard, director of operations for the Nashville Arby's district. The reward, a $1,000 scholarship, was presented at Arby's Northwest Broad Street restaurant. "We as a company see integrity as one of our key behaviors, and Dallas reflected that well in the decision he made to turn the money in to the police," Howard said. "He could have very easily have kept it and used it, but it was about doing the right thing." Blackwell's father, Lucky Blackwell, said he was very proud of his son. "It's not unexpected because that's just the way he is," Lucky Blackwell said. "I don't take credit for it. Everybody makes their own choices. "He's always done the right thing and he cares about other people. I've always told him just to do the right thing. "There's always consequences for your decision-making, right or wrong." Lucky Blackwell also believes his son's experience of losing about $300 at a bank played a factor in the return of the money. "He was at a bank and had $300 in an envelope and left it in there," he said. "He went back to get it there and it was gone." Dallas Blackwell said he's "had a lot of people call me to say thank you" for what he did. "One person came to me and said she was kind of losing hope in humanity and by doing what I did . . . a little bit of faith in humanity was restored," he said. He thanked Arby's for the scholarship and said it was totally unexpected. "This shows that if you do the right thing, good things happen in return," he said. The biggest reward of all, Blackwell said, was the look on the face of the man who got his money back. The man was not identified. "I met with him the day he went to go claim it," he said. "I didn't expect anything more than a thank you, but he decided to give me $100 from his pocket. "He said it turned his stomach upside down when he lost his money. He thought he would never get that back. When he found out from friends that someone turned it in he was shocked. "It makes me feel really good to know that I made a difference in someone's life like that."