Salvation Army: Double or nothing

In a moment of madness, I predicted the Christmas donation hoax for the local Salvation Army might turn into a feelgood story after all.

I based that on the thought that people can be pretty decent after all, and that they might not take kindly to folks who scam a charitable organization.

I didn't know the half of it. Literally. In the past week, good-hearted people made sure the bad news paid off in silver dollars.l

After the issue became public, people opened their wallets to the tune of $50,000. In real donations, replacing the stolen $25,000 check that bounced and triggered the whole thing.

Double or nothing.

Donations poured in from across the country -- including an anonymous couple on vacation in the Carribbean -- to reload Salvation Army coffers.

The local media picked up the story a week ago, and before long it went nationwide. The Los Angeles Times and Charlotte Observer ran it.

Seeing everybody come together to do good things -- particularly in light of our in-the-tank economy -- does much to thaw the edges of this ol' frozen heart of mine.

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