A routine donation-sorting shift at a Peachtree City nonprofit one Friday became anything but routine when workers found what seemed to be a real hand grenade among household goods, as Hoodline detailed.
What happened?
On May 29, employees at A Better Way Ministries noticed the suspicious object while going through a fresh set of donations. Believing it could be explosive, they moved it outside to a secluded area of the property, according to WSB-TV.
Police told the network the item was a decades-old military keepsake that had stayed in the donor's family. Because officers could not determine at the scene whether it was inactive, they requested help from the Clayton County Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit. Authorities said no one was hurt and there was no continuing risk to the public, the station reported.
Similar discoveries have happened before, as Hoodline noted. Earlier this spring, a grenade found at a Goodwill in Maine led to an evacuation, and another located in Tacoma, Washington, also drew a bomb squad response, according to local reports.
Why does it matter?
Thrift stores and donation centers handle huge volumes of donated goods every day, often without knowing exactly what is packed inside boxes and bags. That typically won't be a problem for sorters, and it can work out for lucky shoppers, who find real bargains on the shelves
Families and individual consumers can save money on clothes, furniture, kitchenware, and other essentials, while also keeping usable goods out of landfills. It can even lead to rare and valuable finds at a fraction of retail prices.
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Of course, a hand grenade is not the type of rare find that the sorters or most shoppers are looking for.
What are people saying?
Police in Peachtree City told WSB-TV that there appeared to be "no malicious intent" behind the donation and that the grenade was "inadvertently included with a large quantity of donated items."
As often happens in these sorts of situations, there apparently was some sensationalism following the event about what exactly surrounded the incident and its nature.
Peachtree City PD shut down that talk.
"Reports regarding IED's, notes, threats, secondary devices, or other suspicious circumstances are inaccurate," they told WSB-TV.
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