What better time of year is there to update my list of those who personify goodness than in the holiday season? Updatee No. 1 is the unknown soul who is wandering around Kansas City these days, giving out $100 bills. This Secret Santa has taken over for Larry Stewart, who anonymously doled out more than $1 million annually to strangers. Stewart died in 2007.
A fake white beard taped to his face, Secret Santa II handed out about $10,000 in total Tuesday. Recipients included a police officer with terminal cancer, a homeless man pushing a rickety old shopping cart, an 81-year-old woman who had recently told her 27 grandchildren she wouldn’t be able to afford any Christmas gifts, and Bernadette Turner, a 32-year-old unemployed mother of two.
I had never heard of such a thing until I moved to the KC area. I smile every time I hear about Secret Santa’s exploits, and I wonder why I don’t do the same. I’m not in a position to hand out $100 bills, but I could give away a buck or two. Perhaps it’s time I started doing that.
