$100 bills are being hidden around Charlotte. Here are the details.
It’s officially a new year, which means it’s time for a few new things — a New Year’s resolution, a new look or perhaps a new mindset. While clearing out the old to make room for the new, Charlotteans should leave space for a few extra $100 bills. There’s a catch, however: It could involve a hunt and some digging.
Charlotte resident Garrett James and his friend Charlie Wilson are adamant about paying it forward and finding creative ways to do so. Their random acts of kindness started about three years ago while the two were on vacation. While walking on a boardwalk in Virginia Beach, they came up with their first of many ideas to give back. James took out his phone, zoomed in on a map of a random neighborhood and sent 72 rolls of toilet paper — note included — to a random address in Buffalo Gap, South Dakota.
They continued to spread kindness to strangers, paying their tabs by sending them $100 through Venmo, which evolved into burying $100 bills throughout the country for strangers to find. Why $100 bills? It’s just enough to motivate people to get out of the house to go search for it.
For years, the initiative they call Drop Parties has buried — or hidden — over $4,000 while on vacation across the country, with all but one location being found. In 2018, when Charlotteans were first challenged to hunt for $200 in Freedom Park, the money was found within two days. Now, Wilson is planning to move to Charlotte from Richmond, Virginia, and the friends plan to focus on hiding more cash in the Queen City.
“It’s kind of hard to get traction nationwide, so we are just going to bring it local. We want to help out people in our city,” James said. “Our goal is to spread awareness and give strangers free money who need it more than we do.”
How it works
Drop Parties places the $100 bill in small, plastic rectangular boxes — similar in size to a cassette tape holder — with its logo on front. An encouraging note goes into the box before it’s time to find the location and get to digging, James said. If there’s some brush or a bush nearby, James and Wilson hide the money instead of burying it. They place the coordinate app directly over the spot, then screenshot the exact coordinates to post on Instagram along with a quick whiparound video of the general area.
Once the Instagram post is made, the hunt begins. Drop Parties recommends the Coordinates app to locate the spot, but the process can be as simple as typing the coordinates in maps on your device to get you to the general area.
Once the money is found, Charlotteans are encouraged to email Drop Parties or tag it on Instagram so they can alert everyone that the money has been found.
Though Drop Parties was created to give back, the experience has proven to be about more than the $100. After completing the experience, one participant contacted James to inform him about how hunting for the money was a true bonding moment for him and his son.
The more money they make, the more money they bury
By day, James does commercial oil sales for James River Petroleum and Wilson does medical sales for Medronix. They have been fortunate in their careers and delight in helping others, using all of their own money to pay it forward in this innovative way. Their goal is to grow awareness and followers in Charlotte, so they can start burying $200 every other Friday and Charlotteans can start digging, James said.
“We want random people to go find it,” he said. “We’re hoping it blows up in Charlotte so more people know about it. It’ll be a fun city-wide scavenger hunt.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 11:48 AM.
