The true spirit of the holidays has become apparent in the last few weeks as the Secret Santa movement has gained steam. The Secret Santa movement involves people visiting national retailers and paying off the balances of strangers’ layaway accounts for items such as toys and clothes.
It seems to have started a few weeks ago in Michigan, when an anonymous donor showed up at a Kmart in Grand Rapids and spent $500 to pay off three accounts. After media coverage of that donation, a man showed up the next day to pay $2,000. The story soon went viral, spreading through Twitter, YouTube, blogs and local media coverage. From there it has spread across the nation…
So-called Secret Santas have shown up mostly at Kmarts in Michigan, Ohio, Florida and Colorado. Some have done their good deeds at Walmart, including one man who paid $8,880 to assure 23 families in Avon, Ohio could get their gifts. Another Secret Santa was a woman from Indianapolis in her mid-40’s who paid the layaway orders for as many as 50 people. Before she left the store she handed out $50 bills and paid for two carts full of toys for a woman in line at the cash register. Not all acts have been so large, but people have been paying what they can towards others’ layaway accounts in an effort to make a difference.
To some $40 may not seem like a lot, but to others it can be the difference in making the holidays bright! It is these acts that bring a sense of community in the world.
Here's a video to show how the the trend of giving is taking off...
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jJB6WsOzEw]
So let the holiday spirit fill you.
Happy Holidays!