Mrs Hartell said she wanted him to know she chose to leave some items to be donated at a garage because fuel was expensive, and she kept chickens, so always had a supply of eggs.
"Because of him I've learned, and I see things differently now. I don't know if I would have done it before. It's not the $10, it's the thought."
She said even if he didn't get in touch, she planned to get him a thank-you card that she hoped could be passed on.
After dropping the items off at the garage yesterday morning, Mrs Hartell said she visited an elderly neighbour and took a stray kitten to the SPCA for her. She went home and told her husband she would really love to have the kitten, and he told her to go back and get it, so that was her second good deed for the day.
Mrs Hartell said she felt a bit guilty for all the attention she had received. She had even been approached to appear on television, which she wasn't sure about, but if it was good for Wanganui, she would do it.
Foodstuffs said while the man wanted to remain anonymous to the media, it had passed Mrs Hartell's contact details on to him with her permission, and would be leaving it up to him from there.