Teenage Chick-fil-A worker finds $10,000 in cash, returns it to owner

“True leadership. True integrity.”

Praise is raining down on Chick-fil-A worker Jayden Cintron, who works at one of the chain’s outlets in North Carolina.

Because when he found $9,333 in two bank envelopes left behind in his store, he returned it to the owner.

He was offered a $500 reward, and initially refused, but eventually accepted when the owner persisted.

He explained his decision not to keep the money: “That’s not what Jesus would’ve done. That’s not what God would’ve wanted.”

Chick-fil-A worker, 18, finds $10K in restaurant bathroom and returns it to its owner https://t.co/yXx8JGFTHU pic.twitter.com/eHva2KC3bk

— New York Post (@nypost) April 10, 2026

Chick-fil-A worker finds almost $10K in a restaurant bathroom and returns it to its owner—because that’s what God would’ve wanted.

HERO!

Eighteen-year-old Jayden Cintron was working Good Friday morning at a Chick-fil-A in North Carolina and found $9,333 in cash left behind in… pic.twitter.com/UnWLe1019W

— Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) April 10, 2026

Kinston Police Chief Keith Goyette cited the worker’s integrity: “A lot of people will … unfortunately, take that money and run with it.”

And the restaurant’s owner, John McPhail, said, “True leadership, you know, true integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching.”

According to the New York Post, the 18-year-old was on a routine shift on Good Friday. He stepped away from his work for a restroom break, finding there the money, in envelopes labeled First Citizens Bank and Truist Bank.