An anonymous donor has dropped a $1,000 winning lottery ticket into a Salvation Army kettle in Pennsylvania.

The Erie Times-News (http://bit.ly/2hwhr9J ) reports that the donor tucked the ticket inside a wad of $1 bills outside a Wal-Mart in Harborcreek Township on Dec. 6.

The Erie County Salvation Army says the donation is needed because the annual fundraiser is behind schedule.

Through Monday, the campaign had collected just under $80,000, which is about $22,000 less than was collected by the same date last year. Last year's $158,872 total was also the lowest collected since 2008.

The charity is hoping to raise $190,000 this year, so business administrator Bernie Myers says the $1,000 ticket donation "helps quite a bit."

Pennsylvania Lottery officials say the winner was a Fantastic 10s instant ticket.