An 18-year-old student was “speechless” when her boss handed her €1,500 to replace money she had mistakenly given away to charity in an old shoe that held all her savings.

The day Rachela Mercieca opened up to her boss, Sarah Cachia, about what had happened, Cachia reached out to the community on social media platform Women for Women to collect the lost money. The next day she handed her a cheque.

“I can’t thank them enough. I was speechless and overwhelmed… I know it was my mistake… There is a lot of bad in the world but there is a lot of good and this showed me how kind people can be,” said Mercieca.

A first-year MCAST student, she had been juggling two part-time jobs as a barista – working all summer and, now, weekends and night shifts – to save up for her travel-and-car fund. Her dedication to work is evident as she was nominated barista of the year.

"I used to put my savings in a shoe to make sure I don’t spend it. Looking back, I have no idea why I did that".- Rachela Mercieca

But she lost all her savings when her act of charity went totally wrong.

For a year-and-a-half, Rachela had been placing the money she saved in a shoe – a red Converse – in her room.

“I have a bank account where I keep the money I use day-to-day. But I used to put my savings in a shoe to make sure I don’t spend it. Looking back, I have no idea why I did that,” she said.

A few weeks ago, she was organising her bedroom and went through her shoe cupboard. She prepared a bag with all the items she was no longer using and later took them to a charity shop.

On Thursday, last week – December 8, a public holiday – she was at home and decided to go through her money. When she looked for the shoe it wasn’t there.

“That’s when it hit me. I panicked. I went to the charity shop but it was closed since it was a holiday,” she recalls. She got through to the manager who met her there and opened the charity shop. Together they went through the items.

'We found the shoe but it was empty'

“We found the shoe. The laces were undone and it was empty,” she recalled.

She was disappointed that someone had taken the money without having told the manager of the find.

“I started thinking of what I could do to get the money back and the only thing was work hard and re-earn it. I was always one who wanted to work to earn what I want. My parents help me financially but I want to work for what I have.

“So I called my boss, Sarah, to ask about working more shifts at Jacob’s Brew Coffee Shop. I opened up to her and told her what had happened.”

Her boss recalled: “She was devastated... Having told me about her misfortune, I couldn’t sleep thinking about her and how broken she was. At work she’s always so happy and chirpy, a team player always willing to give a helping hand.

“I went on the group Women For Women and posted about her plight at 3am as my instinct as a mother told me it was the right thing to do. We were all 18 once. We all made mistakes and learned from them…

“After just a few hours, I had collected over and above that amount... so much so that I was able to also donate €600 to the Women For Women Foundation so that they would be able to bring joy to other families in need this Christmas.”

The following morning, she called Mercieca into the coffee shop and gave her the cheque.

The student has learnt her lesson: she has now opened a second bank account where she deposited the cheque – no more cash kept in old shoes.

'Goodness will return 10 times to you'

There is also another lesson she learnt: “Overall, this is a story one should follow even if you completely lost hope in people… As my friend said, goodness will return 10 times to you,” said Mercieca.

After all she is part of the work family of Jacob’s Brew, the coffee shop set up by Cachia and her son Jacob after he survived a rare brain infection in 2013.

Since then, the Cachia family has reached out to others dealing with trauma. This included the setting up of the NGO Survivors Malta and the publication of the book Jacob – My Titanium Man, whose royalties kickstarted the dream of opening a coffee shop Jacob’s Brew – Pay It Forward.

And paying it forward is exactly what this story is all about.

If you would like to support the Women For Women Foundation to help families in need to have a Merry Christmas, you can donate on Revolut or BOV Pay on 9991 1100 or visit their donation page for other ways of giving: www.womenforwomen.foundation/donate.