President Ronald Reagan responded personally nearly 30 years ago to an 11-year-old girl’s request for help with the homeless by sending a handwritten note and a check for $50 — both of which are now for sale for the price of $20,000.
Specifically, the check was to fund the girl’s participation in a charity walk, Fox News reported.
From his Aug. 26, 1986, note on White House letterhead: “Dear Lisa, I am very proud to sponsor you in the walkathon. Thank you for asking. I know you’ll walk the seven miles and the enclosed is to help the cause you are serving. God bless you. Ronald Reagan.”
The now-adult Lisa, who wishes to remain anonymous, never turned the check into the San Fernando Board of Realtors, the group that sponsored the charity drive. Instead, her parents turned in $50 in cash and kept hold of the check, Fox News said.
Nathan Raab, vice president of the Raab Collection, which collects historical documents, said the letter and check from Mr. Reagan’s Bank of America account should fetch a decent price.
“You almost never see letters of presidents to children,” he told Fox. “The piece is a great rarity, and also evocative of Reagan the man and Reagan the president.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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