$1,600 Returned to Elderly Woman Thanks to Braintree Boys' Kindness

Twelve-year-old Michael Fahey had just gone over to his friends Brian and Justin Maccarone's house one day last month before school. They were playing in the leaves when a kick turned up something other than a leaf.

It was a wallet – really a piece of cloth with an elastic, Brian Maccarone said – and it had a bunch of one hundred dollar bills inside. Michael called his mother, Braintree School Resource Officer Lisa Fahey, and told her what they had found.

The wallet contained $1,600 in cash and a Charlie Card. Lisa Fahey brought it to the police station so the boys could get to South Middle School for class. Two weeks later, it was claimed by an elderly woman from Boston.

"I'm very pleased by what they did, but I'm not surprised," Lisa Fahey told reporters gathered at Braintree Town Hall Tuesday afternoon for a press conference.

Justin is also 12 years old and his brother Brian is 11. The boys said that if they had kept the money they would have spent it on an XBox, video games and a new iPhone.

Mayor Joseph Sullivan proclaimed Wednesday, Nov. 13, a day in honor of the boys and said that Dave & Buster's has provided them each with $25 gift certificates. They were also honored earlier Tuesday at school by Sullivan, South Principal Ed McDonough, Police Chief Russell Jenkins and Superintendent Dr. Maureen Murray.

"They've really been a tremendous role model for their classmates and for the entire town and people of Braintree," Sullivan said. "They've been raised well by their folks... and they're supported by a strong community."

In the video above, speaking are Mayor Sullivan, Brian Maccarone and Lisa Fahey.