Summit Residents Raise Money For Dunkin' Worker Who Lost Cash

SUMMIT, NJ — America may run on Dunkin', but it also runs on the almighty dollar — and it's rough when you misplace the cash you need. That's what happened to Summit Dunkin' Donuts employee Citas Wojtech, an immigrant who works two jobs, just before Thanksgiving.

"My name is Citas Wojtech an employee of this Dunkin Donuts...." she wrote on a sign she placed on the door of the Summit shop last month. "Last Tuesday 11/24, I accidentally dropped my small pouch in the parking lot with cash inside. That money was supposed to pay my co-worker for my son's vehicle."

She had lost $800.

Wojtech was only looking for someone to return the money, but customer Anna Fredette noticed the signs and wanted to help her out. So she started a GoFundMe to replace the cash.

Another customer, Ruth Waxman, posted photos of the sign in a Summit Facebook group.

The fundraiser ultimately brought in $1,630, then was closed.

Fredette posted on Facebook on Thursday, "For anyone who missed this story, get your tissues ready. My Thursday started with two grown women crying in Dunkin' Donuts. I was able to go in this morning, order a hot chocolate and give her the amount of $1,600 ... When days had gone by and nobody returned the pouch to her, I can imagine she felt so hurt and defeated."

A Summit resident wrote on Facebook, "I am so grateful we all could help! Love the people of Summit."

Fredette, who moved to Summit this summer and grew up in Livingston, told Patch on Monday, "I am a professional nanny so my job is to literally take care of other people, and I try to keep that mentality in and out of work. I had actually never met Citas or even been into that store before since I live on the other side of town. However, I’m very active on the community pages and that is how I became aware of Cita's lost pouch."

Wojtech, 60, later explained in a story on NJ.com that she had dropped the money on the way to head to her second job at Overlook Hospital in Summit, after her 3 a.m. shift at Dunkin' ended.

She's an immigrant who had married a man she met years ago at another Dunkin'. A different coworker had helped her finance a car for her son, Kim, 27, after hers broke down — and the payment was meant for that coworker.

After the customer raised the money for Wojtech, Wojtech said, "I didn’t even expect that. I always cry. I was really in tears from the beginning. Someone who didn’t even know me.”

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