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'Honest young men' make a woman's day

When a pair find a sizable check, they turn it in, earning a reward and a hearty thank you.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published August 21, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - The teenagers were convinced that the check for $25,750 couldn't be real. One joked that the piece of paper would make a cool trophy for his bedroom wall. But that was minutes before they turned it in and it was returned to the woman who'd never realized the check had been lost.

On Thursday Christian Veitel, 16, and Clayton Wastak, 17, were rewarded for their honesty. Each boy received $50, but Trudy McNulty, who had dropped the important business check, later increased the reward to $100 apiece.

"I was very impressed with them," she said. "I just appreciate that they were honest and trustworthy and did the right thing. I am very grateful to them and to their parents and guardians, that they raised fine young men."

The reward was a happy surprise for the high school students, who had not given their names when they turned in the check.

"I wasn't expecting anything," Clayton said.

Tuesday, the day they found the check in the parking lot of Pinellas Technical Education Center, had been typical, Clayton and Christian said. The teenagers, students at Gibbs High School Business, Economics and Technology Academy, had been heading to the nearby PTEC parking lot, where Christian's mother usually parks to avoid traffic.

"We were going our normal route and I happened to look back," Christian recalled. "I saw a paper and booklet, so I picked it up and it was a check. And we were joking about it, because you don't see that every day. I figured that somebody lost it and it could just be written up again."

The 11th-grader said he also joked about hanging it on his bedroom wall. Instead, "we just kind of took it up to the office," Clayton said.

They handed it to the receptionist.

"The first thing that came out of her mouth was, it was not real," Christian recalled. "We just walked out and then we went to our car when we were done. We forgot all about it."

But McNulty, who coordinates the child care apprenticeship program at PTEC, couldn't. For over half a year, she has been trying to carry on her husband's business while he recuperates from a serious accident. Marty McNulty lost control of his motorcycle in December while participating in the annual Toys-For-Tots Run. He was seriously injured and has not been home since, his wife said. About four weeks ago he was transferred from Bayfront Medical Center to Morton Plant Rehabilitation Center, she said.

What Christian and Clayton found was a check for Best Business Brokers, the company her husband owns, McNulty said.

"I never knew that the check was gone," she said. "I am just thankful that these were honest young men and they did the right thing. If I had not gotten it, it would have presented a big problem."

She found out who returned the check from a Pinellas County sheriff's deputy based at the PTEC resource office. Clayton said he recognized them from their backpacks when they were going through their normal routine the following day. Both boys say they are happy they were able to spare McNulty further distress.

"Once I met her, I found out that her husband just recently was in a motorcycle accident, so I'm real happy she got that money," Christian said.

His mother, Liz Veitel, commended McNulty for thanking the boys.

"I think it is really great of her to acknowledge (their action), because a lot of people would let it slide under the rug," she said.

"I think that teenagers do a lot of good things that we just don't hear about."

[Last modified August 21, 2005, 00:50:20]