$36K found among donated porcelain dolls in Santa Monica thrift shop

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KABC) -- When Ray Rhinehart's mother passed away, he decided to donate her collection of porcelain dolls to the Discovery Shop in Santa Monica, a thrift store run by the American Cancer Society.

About a month or so later, he received an unexpected call back.

"I got a phone call saying, we found an envelope in one of the boxes of the dolls, and there seems to be a lot of money in it," Rhinehart said. "And I said "Oh really." And it turned out to be quite a bit of money. Not $30 or $40, but $30,000."

The money discovered totaled $36,000 once it was all counted.

Ray thanked the people at the Discovery Shop.

Money from their sales, like everything at the Discovery Shop, goes to cancer research.

As for the dolls, they were donated to an orphanage.