THAT MONEY IS NOT MINE!

It is many people’s dream to find a hidden treasure. In March 2019, Morten Bramsen’s dream came true when he found an envelope full of money in the fireplace of his new apartment. Bramsen decided to donate all of it to a charity.

Bramsen is a 33-year-old man in real estate business. He bought his apartment in Copenhagen, Denmark, from the Danish Cancer Society (DCS). The DCS is an organisation that provides funding for cancer research in Denmark. Their main aim is to distribute information to the public to create awareness and stop different types of cancer. Among other duties, it also works with Danish health authorities to make sure that the needs of cancer patients are met. The property was donated to DCS after a cancer patient passed away. The Cancer Society then sold the property to raise money that they needed.

After buying the apartment, Bramsen was showing it to a friend. They were trying to find another place for the fireplace. They decided to check out if they could move the fireplace to another room. When they lifted a stone in the fireplace, they found an envelope filled with about $142,000 beneath one of the stones. The packet of money was quite a surprise. “At first, we started to celebrate. It was like we won the lottery. “ said Bramsen. “But then I thought: this is not my money.” It was highly possible that nobody knew about the hidden money, but Bramsen decided that it truly belonged to the DCS. “I don’t think that anyone knew about the money but I couldn’t keep it.” he said. Bramsen made a decision and donated the money to the Danish Cancer Society. “It would have been nice to go on a holiday with my family,” Bramsen said, laughing. “But that money wasn’t mine, and it felt nice to give it to something good like the cancer foundation. I felt lucky that I could help some people.”

The story about Bramsen finding the money and then giving it away was published on a Danish newspaper. Bramsen became very famous in his country. He got a lot of phone calls and messages from friends and strangers and also comments on social media from both friends and strangers. Most of them were complimenting him for his honesty in the situation. “A lot of people say that they thought I did the right thing and that’s good to hear,” Bramsen said. “That gives you faith in humanity.”