Honest Citizens Receive Trips To Disney World Pair Praised As Heroes For Returning Money Scooped Up From Brink’s Truck
Honesty pays - big time.
Just ask Herbert Tarvin and Faye McFadden, the only two people who have returned some of the loot scooped up a week ago when a Brinks truck crashed and showered an Overtown street with hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Since the 11-year-old returned 85 cents and the single mother of six turned in $19.53, the two have been receiving reward offers from as far away as California, Alaska, Germany and London.
On Friday, they were offered the ultimate prize for the few who have achieved true hero status.
Herbert, McFadden and their families are going to Disney World.
“I’m amazed, I’m truly amazed,” McFadden said. “Right now all I can do is smile.”
“This past week has been good,” Herbert said. “Nah, it’s been great.”
Since she returned the coins, McFadden has kept a low profile, working her $5-an-hour sales job at a downtown Burdines. Herbert, however, has become something of a media darling.
The 11-year-old choir boy has been interviewed by national and international media in a week that included ceremonies to receive a miniature badge from Miami police, a certificate of appreciation from a Metro-Dade commissioner, and culminated with him being featured on CBS’s “48 Hours.”
On Friday, he and 15 sixth-grade classmates from St. Francis Xavier Catholic School were under television lights as they sat through Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle’s swearing-in ceremony.
Fernandez said she invited the youngsters after finding out that Herbert - whose favorite television show is “Matlock” - wants to be a prosecutor when he grows up.
“During last week’s Brinks incident, there was a special young man who stood out where others failed as a reminder that right does exist,” she told a standing-room crowd in a courtroom at the Richard E. Gerstein Building.
“When I met him two days ago, he told me his dream was to be a prosecutor. I invited him to meet all of you - the men and women who commit yourselves to doing what’s right.”
The kids will go on another field trip Saturday to the Coral Square Mall in Coral Springs. There, they’ll be the guests of honor at Walt Disney World’s Magical Memories Tour - a statewide tour that celebrates the theme park’s 25th anniversary.
“Everything’s been real nice, because when he returned the money, it not only showed his honesty, but the honesty of all St. Francis Xavier children,” said classmate Laudz Jean Jacques, 11.