Country's BBQ waitress returns $1,300 found on table

COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) - A social media post helped find a couple who left behind a big chunk of change while visiting a local restaurant, and its how the money was returned that has lots of people talking.

Kantessa Smith, also known as Tessa, has worked at Country's Barbeque location on Mercury Drive for nearly four years. But her Tuesday was not like any other - she found $1,300 left on the table.

"I had clean off the tables and I saw a bunch of trash on the tables, so I tried to grab it but when I did, it wouldn't bend so I opened it and I found a lot of money in an envelope so I just went and found my manager," Smith said.

The single mother of two kids returned 13 $100 bills to her manager.

They then turned to social media to find the rightful owners.

"We got cameras everywhere so he found the time that they came and the time that they left and we went in the office and found them on the camera and zoomed in on the camera and we took pictures and posted on Facebook to see if anyone would notice them," Smith said.

The restaurant posted pictures of the couple on their Facebook page, and it spread quickly on social media Tuesday night and Wednesday, with hundreds of shares and comments until the couple was finally located. They returned to the store the next morning to retrieve the money.

Why did she return it? Smith says she was raised to return things that didn't belong to her. But the couple did give her a $100 reward.

The restaurant is calling Tessa a hero for the good deed. And people love her story so much, someone started a GoFundMe campaign for her. You can donate by clicking here.

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