The Mystery of 'Benny': The Secret Benefactor of Oregon

Two years ago, Joe Robinson was pricing the pottery he sold at an arts festival in Oregon, USA. As he lifted a pot, painted with fern patterns, a $100 bill tumbled out. It bore a name: 'Benny.' The bill was crisp and unused, the ink-standing stark against its fresh paper.

Initially, Joe thought someone mistakenly left the bill on his stand. But as he shared the incident with friends and acquaintances, he learned it wasn't an isolated event. In Oregon, it appeared, a mysterious giver was leaving bills marked with 'Benny' in many places—candy jars, coat pockets, even open packages of wet wipes.

"To date, Benny has given away more than $55,000," remarked Capi Lynn, a local journalist in Oregon. "I have a feeling he’ll continue until his identity is unveiled, or he can no longer sustain his philanthropy for any reason."

The newspaper where Lynn works, the New Statesman Journal, documents the secret giving events of Benny that they manage to discover. For instance, they interviewed a girl who found the bill in a piggy bank her mother had purchased. "I shook the box and the bill fell out," she said. "My mom thought it was fake, but it turned out to be genuine." Another story involved Tammy Tompkins, who discovered a bill inside a cereal box just when her family was struggling due to her husband's health issues. "I cried with joy when I found the bill. It truly made my day," she admitted.

Sometimes, Benny’s generosity inspires others: an eight-year-old who found a bill in a store used it to buy toys to donate to a daycare in a disadvantaged neighborhood. Lynn says about half of the people who find Benny's bills pay it forward, using the money to help others in need. Those who keep the money usually genuinely need it for essentials, like food or medicine.

And what did Joe Robinson do with his bill? Recalling a hiking trail he had struggled with, he decided to buy a variety of snacks and drinks to leave at a challenging spot on the trail. "It was a delightful surprise for hikers who reached there, just like Benny's bill was for me," he remembered.

So who is the mysterious Benny? Robinson suspects some already know the answer. "I think a few people have seen him leaving the bills. But they stay quiet. His way of giving touches their hearts, and so they feel compelled to keep his secret."