By Ashley Clutter, exec. asst. to the president, University of Antelope Valley
LANCASTER – Lawrence Buenaventura and Christopher Cueto, both enrolled at UAV in the Fire Science Associate degree program, should be called heroes.
Buenaventura and Cueto had completed a full day of lectures and skills training in Captain Hamilton’s classroom. When exiting the Sierra campus Tuesday, Jan. 27, they noticed a $100 bill on the ground. Cueto picked it up.
Buenaventura noticed another $100 bill and picked it up, and then they noticed even more bills – altogether $700 scattered on the ground.
Neither man asked what they should do.
They immediately walked to the main reception area where they met Sgt. Gerald Brown, UAV security lead, and handed him the seven $100 bills.
The two men again exited the campus and noticed on the ground a check for $725.10; they turned that in as well.
The story does not end there. The check had a name imprinted on it and an endorsee on the reverse side. Sgt. Brown turned to Facebook, and he was successful in tracking down the owner of the funds.
The woman had not realized she lost the check or the cash until she listened to a message left by Brown stating, “I am calling from UAV and we may have found something that belongs to you.”
When finally speaking to Brown, the first thing the woman said was, “Please tell me you found my daughter’s rent money.”
Honesty and character count, and these men are examples that doing the right thing is always the best policy.
A successful future as firefighters is predicted for Buenaventura and Cueto, and we acknowledge them as character heroes.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The AV Times.
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Anonymous says
this is a great story. these guys at uav could have kept the money to themselves. these guys will be great firefighters! kudos to uav for teaching honesty and character.
bryan mylan says
Why not set up a go fund me for these guys?
Always set up for the death and buried…
Mary says
I found over $800.00 in cash and an uncaahed social security check in a purse at the Hobby Lobby. The woman left it outside in her basket. My daughter and I wrnt through her purse and found an address book. The first number we dialed belonged to her sister. The sister called her sister to tell her we would wait at the Hobby Lobby. We did. In 10 minutes the woman arrived and was SOBBING. No words were exchanged. Her crying showed all that she felt. I never thought to keep the money nor was I expecting an award. Stealing is wrong and turning it over was the right thing to do.