Photo album filled with decades of memories found at Goodwill in Chadds Ford

Beccah Hendrickson Image
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Chadds Ford woman hoping to find family of photo album found at Goodwill
A Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania woman is trying to return a lifetime of memories to their rightful owner.

CHADDS FORD, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A Delaware County woman is trying to return a photo album filled with a lifetime of memories to its rightful owner and it turns out she might just get the chance.

The photo album does not belong to Wendi Shaw or anyone she knows, but after paging through it, she feels like she knows the family.

"I was like, 'Oh my heart!' Cause this has got to be from the 50s all the way to the 90s," said Shaw.

Shaw was shopping at the Goodwill in Chadds Ford when she made the discovery.

"I am bit of a treasure hunter and sometimes I see one photo or something, but I picked this album up and I was like, 'this person's whole entire life is in here,'" said Shaw.

The book is called "My Gang."

Shaw and the workers at Goodwill were hoping someone in the pictures recognized themselves.

"The good thing is it's probably someone in this area because the donations that come into this store pretty much stay in this store," said Colleen Morrone, the CEO of Goodwill Delaware and Delaware County.

Morrone said it happens more than you think, where a family treasure is accidentally donated. But rarely does something this personal end up on the shelves.

"We'll try to find that donor when we can. This was a little tricky because there's really no reference to any person in the book," said Morrone.

There were no names in the photo album, but decades' worth of memories begging to find their way back to the people who cherish them.

"I was like, 'I have to find this family' so I bought it. It was $3. I was like this is a treasure. This is a real treasure," Shaw said.

In a big update, the album's owners reached out. Wendi Shaw is planning to return the album to them as soon as possible. Action News plans to be there when the cherished memories return home.