The Los Angeles County auditor-controller’s office received a $10,000 cashier’s check on May 5 from an anonymous donor in Washington state, officials confirmed Friday. Accompanying the check was a note that read: “In this time of economic difficulties, governments need all the help they can get. Please put this anonymous check to good use. God bless you.”

Assistant Auditor-Controller John Naimo said the only way officials could know if the check was valid was if they deposited it — and to their surprise, the check cleared.

“This doesn’t exactly happen every day,” Naimo said. “People donate to the county but it’s usually done with the accompanied recognition or with a designation to a particular program. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

The money was not earmarked for anything specific, Naimo said, so it was put into the county’s general fund. Auditor-Controller Wendy Watanabe has shared the information with the Board of Supervisors and the board will be asked to acknowledge and accept the donation at a July 5 meeting.

Though officials know nothing about the donor — except that the envelope was postmarked from Everett, Wash. — Naimo said they hope the benefactor will hear of the county’s appreciation.

“If they’re paying attention to any news accounts of it, hopefully they’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that we received the money and will put it to good use,” Naimo said.

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-- Kate Mather

Photo: Image of the check. Credit: ZevWeb, which includes more details and image of the note.