A Co Tyrone charity shop, which raises money for children in kinship care, has thanked a mystery couple who turned up on their doorstep with a surprise cash donation.
For the past eight months, the Dungannon branch of Kinship Care NI has been providing a valuable service to the local community.
The Kindness of Stranger shops raise money to provide services for children whose parents are not able to look after them, with clothing items being donated from kind strangers in the community.
Staff at the Dungannon outlet have revealed that they were left stunned when a mysterious young couple turned up at their shop on Irish Street at around 5pm last Thursday, August 12.
The young couple in their early 30s, including a woman with long light brown hair, arrived in a grey car with a bag of clothing donations and an envelope containing £1,000 which they handed over before driving off again.
Staff have taken to social media to thank the couple for their kindness.
Addressing the mystery couple, Kindness of Strangers in Dungannon wrote on its Facebook page: "You said to our staff member that you wanted to do something to help. You then handed our staff member an envelope. You said nothing more and got in your car and drove off.
"We opened your envelope and we counted what was inside it. We counted £1,000. Not only did you donate £1,000, but you also made our staff member very emotional.
"This is a message from us to YOU - THANK YOU for calling with us, THANK YOU for your very kind donation and THANK YOU for taking the issue of kinship care to your heart."
The charity shop also revealed how they plan to use the couple's donation to help 46 children in kinship care.
"With your permission this is what we would like to do with your money," they added.
"Children in kinship care have had a difficult year. Some of the children we support have lost contact with their brothers and sisters living in other care arrangements, such as foster care and residential care. This has been heartbreaking for some of the youngsters who come through our organisation for support.
"With your permission we would like to allocate £60 each - total of £420 to seven sibling groups comprising 21 children. Children will be able to enjoy an outing together, get something to eat and spend special time together.
"We would also like to use £170 of your donation to purchase a school uniform, coat, shoes and schoolbag for a seven year old little boy who is living with his older brother. This will take the pressure off the brother and ensure that this little boy who has experienced quite a lot of trauma will look the part when he goes back to school.
"Then we would like to hold the remainder of your donation (£310) and book an activity for 14 children to see Santa in December. Christmas is especially hard on children in kinship care because they don't have their mum or dad around. Last year our youngsters didn't see Santa at all and this was hard on our youngsters.
"THANK YOU for your generosity and kindness. You have both just supported 46 children in kinship care."
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