HILO » Mikela Mercier is an athletic girl, but even her father, Terry, thinks it was a little odd for her to be interested in a used video featuring exercise guru Richard Simmons during a visit to a Kona Salvation Army store on Saturday.

He knows his 11-year-old daughter was checking for mold on the tape, but still he added, “;Only Mikela would open a Richard Simmons video.”;

When Mikela slipped off the cardboard jacket, she found $1,000 in cash in $100 bills.

The discovery gave the Kona girl “;chicken skin,”; she said.

“;When I discovered the money, I immediately looked for my mom, who was inside the dressing room, and I told her, 'We've got to give it to the man,'”; she told Salvation Army officials.

Store manager Jimmy Thennes is still marveling at her honesty.

“;It's truly remarkable how a young girl like Mikela instinctively knew the right thing to do. I truly admire her honesty,”; he said.

Her father added, “;Mikela is happy to know it's going to a fund to help needy people at Christmas.”;

Mikela is unusual in other ways. Part-Hawaiian, she was adopted at age 2, along with her sister, now 14, by the Merciers, who came to Kona from Minnesota.

Mikela has been active in track, basketball and hula, where her kumu has given her some background in Hawaiian language.

Still, it was a big jump when she made the choice this year, entering the sixth grade, to leave English-language schools and enroll in 'O 'Ehunui Kaimalino Hawaiian Immersion School.

Immersion school rules say her parents have to learn Hawaiian, too.

“;We're all doing catch-up,”; her father said.