Secret Santa

The newswires had the nicest little story about a Secret Santa. It was about Larry Stewart, 58, a man who made millions in cable television and long-distance telephone services and gave $100 bills to poor people. They showed him at a laundromat, a poor people habitat.

Stewart said his giving started in 1979 when, after being fired from his job one week before Christmas, he was eating at a local drive-in. He forgot his own cares when he noticed the waitress, (who was working in the cold for change) and gave her a $20 tip.
Stewart said her tearful reaction was "his Christmas present," and he's continued his acts of kindness every year since then. As his personal fortunes grew, so did his giving.
Over the past 26 years, he's handed out $1.3 million.

When I first heard it, they said he had been homeless and someone gave him $40 and he swore he would give back. I thought it was pretty amazing that a man could go from homeless to millionaire and googled it hoping to find out more. The news gets so many things wrong all the time. Anyway, both are great stories. His charity probably isn't even deductible since he doesn't have receipts. .