HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) – Somewhere in the midst of the million-and-a-half people who call our region home lives a man who wanted to help.
The anonymous donor saw 10 On Your Side’s story about two men struggling with the Virginia Employment Commission. This mystery man sent individual checks made out to James Lee and Andrew Jones to WAVY-TV. On Friday, we were happy to relay that help to them both.
“That is very nice. That is very awesome, thank you,” said Lee upon receiving the check. He’s been waiting for four months now for the VEC to make a determination on benefits. His ankle problems are keeping him off the job as a heavy equipment driver. But someone decided to write him a check for $500 to help make ends meet.
“It will help me a lot. It’ll pay some bills and get some groceries in the house. There are good people out in this world with everything that’s going on,” Lee said.
Andrew Jones received unemployment benefits two years ago during the early days of the pandemic when the Norfolk factory where he worked shut down. But he found out recently that the VEC wanted $9,000 of it back. That’s $9,000 that he doesn’t have.
Jones was also in our story, and he got a check from the behind-the-scenes benefactor, too. Both Jones and Lee say someday they want to do the same for someone else.
“If everything works out, I’ll just pay this forward,” Jones said. “I’ll just hold onto it and pay this forward and help somebody else out that’s in worse shape than me.”
“I don’t know this person at all,” Lee said, “and I appreciate it very much and I would like to shake his hand someday.”
“He’s got to be a great guy,” Jones said about the man who stepped forward but not out of the shadows.
It was all so unexpected.
“I just want to cry. This is so nice. Wow,” Lee said, overcome with emotion.
Meanwhile, we alerted the VEC about Jones and Lee. the agency says it’s investigating whether Jones still has to reimburse the $9,000 he received two years ago. Lee says the VEC still has not ruled on his claim, but he’s hoping to get back to work sometime soon regardless.
If you’re having a problem with unemployment contact 10 On Your Side at reportit@wavy.com
Check with WAVY.com for more updates.