Anonymous Santa.....

The holiday season brings lots of opportunities to provide gifts for people who need a little extra help at this time of year. The Salvation Army is out with their red kettles, there are lots of places to drop off new toys for children, the mail is full of requests for donations for area non-profit organizations. The list goes on and my wallet comes out. I support several organizations with a yearly donation and then I look for other small ways to make a difference.

Our condo neighbors responded a few weeks ago with gently used coats, jackets and non-perishable foods for our local food pantry. Their generosity was on display.

Last week I watched Ellen Degeneres on a three-night holiday special "Ellen's Greatest Night of Give Aways". She and her sponsors gave out hundreds of thousands of dollars to deserving people and organizations. Frankly I watched with a box of kleenex right next to the chair! And I kept sort of thinking about it. And remembering how people go to stores and pay off lay away orders for shoppers  - as a surprise. And I decided I wanted to do a little something more personal than putting more dollar bills in the red kettles or sending another check.

So I went off to the bank to get a few bills. I took two of our extra Christmas cards, signed them with a smiley face and tucked the bills inside. I drove over to our local food pantry because I figured that families who qualified to shop there on Tuesday mornings would appreciate a little unexpected windfall.

I know it wasn't much, but I will say it made me feel really good to walk up to two different families as they left the food pantry and approached their cars. I just said "Merry Christmas", handed them the card and walked away..... each of them reacted with a jaw drop and then a "Thank you!"

And I'm happy I played Secret Santa....and I will do it again next year.