Ground Zero Miracle: $10,000 Found in 9/11 Memorial Box

  • Share
  • Read Later
The "Tribute in Lights" illuminates the Lower Manhattan sky on the eighth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks.

REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Officials in downtown Manhattan have encountered a surprise of above-average proportions.

More than nine years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, a memorial at Ground Zero remains a work in progress. In the meantime, one mysterious person’s generous gesture has given the 9/11 Memorial a substantial boost to its financial footing. (See TIME’s photoessay “Remembering 9/11: The Evolution of Ground Zero.”)

The New York Post reports that $10,000 in cash was found on Tuesday evening in one of the area’s donation boxes. The newspaper writes that no face or name has been attached to the stash of 99 100-dollar bills and five 20-dollar bills deposited for collection. (See TIME’s 9/11 multimedia piece: Remembering the Landscape.)

The National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum’s customary donations come from areas like souvenir sales and documented contributions.

But as the Post report notes, surveillance tapes have yet to pinpoint the individual behind the gracious measure.